


In the Stars

by Nagarose453



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/M, Next Generation, Random non canon deaths, Spoilers, idek wtf I’m writing
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-22
Updated: 2019-09-04
Packaged: 2020-09-23 21:13:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,509
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20346808
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nagarose453/pseuds/Nagarose453
Summary: The Paladins have passed the mantle, a new generation rises.With the new generation, comes new challenges as the new Paladins of Voltron find themselves thirty years in the past, face to face with their own parents in the middle of war.





	1. The Funeral

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when you leave me and my s/o alone long enough to start a shipping war at home.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Blue and Green Paladins have passed on, allowing for the new Green and Blue Paladins to step up and embrace their fate.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Y'all, ready for a swift kick to the feels? You're welcome.
> 
> I'm totally not sorry for writing this... I write too much when I'm depressed...

The sunshine seemed almost too cheery for the situation as a man with white hair and a prosthetic right arm approached the podium on the stage. He reached his left hand up to gently pick at the scar that ran horizontally across the bridge of his nose.

“Today is a rather sobering occasion.” The man began to speak, lowering his hand from his face, “Today we lay to rest two heroes who fought side by side as not only Paladins of Voltron, but as husband and wife.” The man paused as he eyed the crowd wearing Galaxy Garrison uniforms in pure black. “Although gone, Pidge and Lance left behind a legacy of bravery, skill, cunning, and teamwork. Today we honor the lives lost, and welcome a new generation to follow in their parent’s footsteps. In honor of Lance McClain, the Paladin of the Blue Lion, and in honor of Katie Holt-McClain, the Paladin of the Green Lion, I have the pleasure and honor of presenting their proteges. Trained for and bonded to the Green Lion, I present Anabelle McClain - the new Paladin of the Green Lion.” The man gestured to his left where a young woman stepped forward wearing a green and white Garrison uniform. The woman was obviously Altean, bearing dark forest green markings under her eyes, her dark brunette hair seemed to have a mind of its own. Without a word the woman clasped a hand to her chest and gave a short formal bow in a stiff Altean salute.

“It is a great honor to follow in my mother’s footsteps.” The woman said shortly into the small mic that looped over her right ear, as she straightened her posture. “It is also a great honor to be a part of Voltron beside you, Shiro.” The woman stated. The man at the podium gave a brief smile.

“Trained for and bonded to the Blue Lion, Revin McClain - the new Blue Paladin.” Shiro said as another figure to his left, a young man in a blue and white Garrison uniform stepped forward to stand beside the one in green.

“It is a great honor to follow in my father’s footsteps.” The young man said simply, his voice held a rather sharp spanish accent. “It is also a great honor to serve on Team Voltron beside you and my sister, Shiro.” The man shot a grin to Shiro. The man had dark blue markings that mirrored the ones Lance had though unlike Ana, his hair was a dark sandy brown.

“It is both with great pride and sadness that we welcome the both of you to Team Voltron. Although both of you are young, we have no doubts that the Lions have chosen well for their Paladins.” Shiro produced a small tray covered in a white cloth from under the podium, “As Paladins, you have a duty and a privlage to be considered part of an extrordinary and unique team of individuals sworn to protecting the Universe. Your bond you developed with your respective Lion along with the skill you both have displayed as potential Paladins have earned you the right to be considered a Paladin. As they once belonged to Trigel and Blaytz, then passed on to Pidge and Lance, I present you with your bayards.” Shiro gently moved aside the cloth to reveal the Green and Blue bayards sitting side by side on the tray. Revin stepped forward as Shiro offered the tray to the two new Paladins. Gently Revin took the blue bayard, before stepping back, allowing Ana to step forward to accept the green bayard.

A few hours later, Ana and Revin stood with the other Paladins in the reception hall as mourners passed offering condolances to the Paladins.

“Geez, papa would be so depressed looking at all these gloomy faces.” Revin muttered to Ana. Ana jabbed her brother hard with her elbow.

“Shut up. It’s a quiznaking funeral, you moron.” Ana hissed to Revin.

“He’s right, if Lance were here he’d be making jokes and trying to make people smile.” Muttered a man who stood next to Shiro wearing a red and white Garrison jacket.

“Don’t encourage him, tio Keith.” Ana grumbled.

“You, need to lighten up a bit, short stuff.’ Muttered a man directly behind Ana in a yellow and white Garrison coat. Ana glared over her shoulder.

“I’ll lighten up, tio Hunk, when we’re not at my parent’s god damn funeral.” Ana hissed.

“Who had the bright idea to do a closed casket for Lance and open for Pidge anyway?” Muttered Keith.

“That was my idea.” Revin said slowly, “Papa was in pretty bad shape… Besides, I didn’t want to remind Ana… You know…” Revin said uncomfortably looking sidways to his sister. Ana sighed heavily.

“Shut your face before I knock you to next decaphoeb.” Ana grumbled irritably.

“Remember when we first became Paladins, and Lance learned the word Quiznak before he learned Altean?” Hunk chuckled. Keith snickered.

“Was that before or after he told Keith he’d stick him in a worm hole?” Shiro asked with a smirk.

“After.” Keith snickered, “Lance always did know how to make us all smile even when it resorted to inappropriate humor. I don’t know who had the worse puns, Lance or Pidge.” Keith gave a sad smile as he looked to a picture that was displayed surrounded by a wreath of green and blue flowers.

“Mama had better puns, Papa just knew when to use them.” Revin said as he, too, looked to the picture. It was one taken during a family trip to Altea. Lance and Pidge were both grinning widely with their cheeks pressed together. “Dios, I miss them already.” Revin said quietly. Ana gave a shaky breath. “Ana?” Revin asked quietly.

“Necesito un poco de aire.” Ana muttered as she moved away from the other Paladins and disappeared through the crowd.


	2. Three Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The new paladins decide that they should spend their Pala-versary visiting their predecessors...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tissues? *hands them out*
> 
> I like torturing the McClain kids... Especially Ana.
> 
> A special shout out to Lotor and the Generals, I was listening to "Vrepit Nah" and "Kral Zera" while writing this... I think Ana is a huge fan (Hence her saying: "Vrepit Nope") because we all know I am. *sips from her "It's not a Phase, WITCH" mug*

\------  
PLANET EARTH: THREE YEARS LATER  
\------

“What are these?” A young man with cat like ears, jet black hair, and the lavender skin of a Galra asked raising a brow as boxes were passed out to the Paladins.

“Thanks, tìa Ronnie!” Revin hooted as the woman handing out boxes smiled.

“They’re a gift from Iverson to commemorate your successful first year together as a team of fully realized paladins. Your parents would be so proud, don’t you think so, Sam?” Veronica asked smiling over to an elderly gentleman sitting backward in a chair, smiling at the Paladins.

“They sure would. I know Kolivan, Krolia, Colleen, Maria, Jose, The whole Garrett family, Coran, and I are very proud of how far the five of you have come. These gifts are TECHNICALLY from the Garrison to all of you… Well, part of it is from me and Coran. Part of it is from Iverson. Open your boxes, I promised Iverson I’d give him details on your reactions.” Sam said as he watched in amusement.

“Vrepit nope, I’m out.” Ana said tossing her package to the side. Veronica caught it deftly before she sighed.

“Just open it. Dios mío, you’re impossible.” Veronica said as Ana sat back down and accepted the box back. The galran man opened his box, his ears flicking forward in delighted interest.

“Oh wow!” yelped the Balmerian sitting next to the Galra.

“No fair, why is yours purple and black, Yorak!?” Revin asked as the Galra pulled a black and purple hat from the box. Sam chuckled.

“Ask Iverson. The hats are from him, the shirts are from Coran and myself.” Sam said as he stood. Ana gave a gasp of surprise.

“Dios mío! The shirts are perfect!” Ana said lifting hers to show it was white with green shoulders and sleeves and on the front it said “Tech Support” in green bold letters. The others marveled at theirs.

“Alister, what does yours say?” Revin asked looking to the Balmerian who promptly took off his yellow shirt and donned the new one from Sam and Coran.

“Mechanic! Isn’t it great! What’s yours say, Yorak?” Alister asked smoothing his shirt over his chest. Yorak looked up in confusion.

“Uh… Shirogane-Kogane?” Yorak questioned holding up his shirt. Revin laughed.

“That’s the back you dumb quiznak! Turn it over!” Revin hooted. Yorak flipped his shirt over and his ears perked up in delight.

“Team Leader!” Yorak hooted in glee, holding the shirt up so that the others could see it. “Thanks, Sam, thanks Papa Coran!” Yorak hooted as he took off his black tank top and shrugged on his shirt.

“You all earned a week of paid leave, as long as you don’t do anything stupid.” Sam stayed pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose. “Three of you are half Holt, and just because you’re Paladins doesn’t mean you can weasel your way into a bar or liquor store. Yorak, Alister, I’m counting on you both to keep Graven, Ana, and Revin out of trouble while you’re all on leave.” The Altean boy with mauve markings rose a brow.

“Man, you suck the fun out of everything, Papa…” He grumbled.

“Your father was Matt and your Aunt Katie, herself, was almost as bad as Ana. At least neither of them got caught publicly intoxicated like Ana.” Sam shot a pointed look at his granddaughter. Ana groaned.

“To be fair, we were on Altea.” Ana grumbled.

“To be fair, nothing, Anabelle. You boys just keep her out of trouble, alright?” Sam ordered. Graven, the one with the mauve markings, gave Sam a salute.

“We were actually going to the Cemetery. We all figured since it’s our one year Pala-versary that we would have a picnic with our parents… That is… if it’s okay with the Garrison.” Alister, the Balmerian, said quietly. The Paladins went quiet as none of them looked at one another.

“It has been a few phoebs since you visited their graves. All of you have worked hard to keep peace in the universe. Shiro, Keith, Matthew, Pidge, Hunk, and Lance would all be proud of how much you all have grown.” a male voice said as Coran entered the room, his orange hair streaked with white, though his moustache was roughly untouched.

“We know…” Graven said, his earlier excitement seemed to melt away. “I mean between Peace negotiations between Daibazaal and Altea and the Balmerian Energy Coalition negotiations for restrictions of mining on Balmeras across the universe… It’s been a stressing year… I don’t know how Uncle Hunk and Uncle Shiro did it for all those years…” Graven said with a look to his fellow paladins. Ana put her hat and shirt back her box and set it aside.

“We all knew when our Lions chose us that we had to be Paladins. I miss Momma and Dad something fierce. I know we all miss them.” Alister pipped up, the Balmeran boy seemed rather uncomfortable. “I mean other than Graven, All of us were basically our parents ages when they became Paladins. Give or take a bit but… You know…” Alister was interrupted as Revin shot him a smile.

“We’ve seen some pretty bad shit in the last three years, more in the last year than we ever wanted to see. We’re the Paladins of voltron, everything works for a reason, right?” Revin asked. Yorak gave a short bitter smile at Sam, Veronica, and Coran.

"Don't mind us. We're starting our leave as a team effective immediately." With that, the paladins grabbed their things, thanked Sam and Coran before they left the room.

A few hours later, Yorak stood beside Ana carrying three bouquets in one hand and the other was gently holding Ana's.

"I take it Alister is bringing food, like normal?" Yorak mused as he and Ana made their way through the cemetery, noting most of the ones buried were Garrison personnel who had died during the war.

"That's what he said anyway..." Ana said softly. "It feels like forever since we were here... I mean, It's only been a year since tío Hunk was killed. Alister said his Therapist is pretty good..." Ana said softly. Yorak sighed.

"I don't understand why you and Graven refuse to see therapists. All of us were assigned one when we became Paladins." Yorak said carefully. Ana sighed as Yorak paused by a row of headstones that were bigger and far flashier than the others around them. Each one was topped with a stone statue of a Voltron Lion, each one labeled with a silver plaque. Ana turned to Yorak before she took the bouquet of blue flowers from Yorak.

"Because a therapist can't stop you from seeing shit you deal with on a daily basis pretty much." Ana said as she walked toward the graves, stopping before one that bore a silver plaque reading "Lance McClain - Paladin of the Blue Lion". She gave a sad smile as she reached up, standing on tiptoe to put the bouquet in the mouth of the statue of the Blue Lion. Yorak sighed.

"I suppose you're correct on that..." Yorak said with a small smile to Ana as she trailed a hand from the Lion statue to the silver plaque. "Anabelle?" Yorak asked softly as Ana gave a soft cough.

"You, Revin, Alister, even Graven... You all watched from afar as your parents were killed. I watched Papà take a bullet to the head at close range trying to keep me safe. I watched Mamà struggle to breath, succumbing to her injuries a mere week after Papà. It's been so long since I've been happy, Yorak, all I want is revenge..." Tears streamed down Ana's face as she coughed hard into her shoulder.

"Anabelle, we all want revenge on the one who killed our parents... They robbed the universe of the most amazing people alive." Yorak said as he approached the largest grave labeled "Takashi Shirogane-Kogane - Paladin of the Black Lion". Yorak shot a look to Ana who had buried her face in her hands, before he sighed reaching up to gently tucked the bouquet of black flowers into the mouth of the Black Lion statue. "I still wonder what it would be like if we were to have our Paladinships handed to us when they had decided to all retire. You know how angry Dad was when he was told by the Coalition that as Black's paladin, he was going to have to present you and Revin with your bayards on the day of Lance and Katie's funeral. " Yorak said slowly as he turned to the grave between that of Shiro and Lance, the Silver plaque reading: "Keith Shirogane-Kogane - Paladin of the Red Lion, Leader of the Blades of Marmora". Yorak handed the final bouquet of red flowers to Ana before motioning her toward the grave. "Both my fathers would have been proud to know the Paladins we've all become. Remember what Dad used to say what is a direct quote from your grandfather? Go, be great." Yorak said making Ana give him a watery look of sadness before she reached up to put the red bouquet in the mouth of the Red Lion statue.

"It's so wrong that they were so young when they were killed. Mamà was only forty-two, Papà was only forty-four..." Ana said with another soft cough. "They had so many more years ahead of them..."

"I know... Dad Keith was only forty-eight, Dad Shiro was only fifty-four..." Yorak sighed going to Ana and hugging her gently. Yorak gave Ana a soft look. "By the way, I asked your grandfather and Pop-pop Coran if I could date you..." Yorak flushed as he gave a nervous grin. "I know this isn't quite the appropriate place for me to ask if you would... But... you know... I suck at timing..." Yorak practically muttered as Ana gave a sniff shaking her head.

"Like papà, you have such bad timing. But how can I say no." Ana said, giving a small smile.

“It’s our pala-versary, we shouldn’t mope anyway. We might as well make the most of it while we can.” Yorak chuckled as he pulled Ana into a hug.

“I know, it’s just hard. But, you actually asked papa and pop-pop?” Ana asked making Yorak release her before he turned toward the gravestones with an arm around Ana’s waist.

“I sure did. Come on, my dads even asked their partner’s parents for permission to date, why would I be any different.” Yorak snickered, glad to be distracting Ana from her previous depressed state. Ana reached up to wipe tears from her cheeks. “Think about it, I’d be a shame to the Shirogane-Kogane name if I strayed from that tradition.” Yorak chuckled.

“You guys are here early!” Called the voice of Alister, making Yorak and Ana turn to see Alister strolling up to them, two bouquets of yellow flowers in one hand and a basket in the other. “It wouldn’t be fair if I visited dad and not momma as well.” Alister explained with a sad grin as he made his way to the grave that was topped with a statue of the Yellow Lion, the silver plaque reading: “Hunk Garrett - Paladin of the Yellow Lion and Shay Garrett - Balmerian Ambassador.” Alister reached up to place one of the bouquets in the mouth of the statue, laying the second by its feet.

“You quiznaks better not be starting the party without us!” Hooted the voices of both Graven and Revin. Ana turned to see that both boys carried a bouquet of green and orange each. Revin immediately made his way to the spot between Yorak and Alister, looking sadly at the statue of the Green Lion.

“Sorry we’re late, mamá.” Revin said sheepishly as he reached up to place his bouquet in the mouth of the Green Lion statue, allowing his hand to fall to the silver plaque reading: “Katie “Pidge Gunderson” Holt-McClain - Paladin of the Green Lion” Revin gave a bitter smile to the plaque as Graven took up the spot on Alister’s other side giving a bitter look to the slightly smaller and less flashy gravestone that was labeled with a silver plaque as well, this one reading: “Matthew Holt and Romelle Holt - Rebel Mercenary Leaders”, laying his bouquet on the headstone. 

“Stars, I know it’s been so long, but it feels almost like yesterday is when Uncle Keith died leaving me to Paladin the Red Lion…” Graven said slowly.

“They were more than our parents… Our Predecessors…” Ana began softly. “They were our teachers, the ones who showed us how to put heart and soul into being Paladins… They showed us the true meaning of being a Paladin of Voltron.” Ana pulled away from Yorak to shoot small reassuring grins to the others.

“We’ve all changed since then. Since we’ve all become paladins… I mean we’re not the same kids we used to be.” Alister said as he looked to the others with a smile.

“We have trained with each other since we were cubs. We didn’t just form a bond with our Lions, but with one another. I doubt any of us would trade our paladinship for the world.” Yorak agreed.

“I think a toast is in order. Since we’re all pretty much legal for all our respective races, I brought a little something extra.” Graven gave a grin as he winked at the others, pulling off the small backpack he wore. He pulled out five shot glasses, tossing them haphazardly one by one to the others who caught them with ease.

“Didn’t Papa Sam tell you not to… Who the hell am I kidding, you’re a Holt, you wouldn’t listen to your grandfather if your life depended on it.” Chuckled Yorak as he caught his shotglass with ease. Graven didn’t seem to be listening as he pulled out a bottle of a deep amber liquid.

“And you’re half Kogane, when have you ever listened to the Garrison?” Graven asked as he popped a cork from the bottle and gave the Black Paladin a wink as he took a drink directly from the bottle, giving a hoot of glee as he lowered the bottle.

“You’re worse than tío Matt, and I love it.” Chuckled Revin as he and the others crowded around Graven.

“I know, I learned from the best. Vrepit sa, mother fuckers, to Team Voltron. May the Lion’s Roar always be heard, and the universe always be at peace.” Alister said holding his Shotglass up in a salute toward the gravestones.

“To Team Voltron!” The others agreed as they all took their shots in unison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, So I've had some questions from betas (who wish not to reveal themselves), Regarding who is related to who. Here's a helpful guide:
> 
> Anabelle (Ana) McClain - Daughter of Pidge and Lance; Younger twin (Green Paladin) Half human, half Altean 
> 
> Revin McClain - Son of Pidge and Lance; Older twin (Blue Paladin) Half human, half Altean 
> 
> Alister Garrett - Son of Hunk and Shay (Yellow Paladin) Half human, half Balmerian 
> 
> Graven Holt - Son of Matt and Romelle (Red Paladin) Half human, half Altean
> 
> Yorak Shirogane-Kogane - Biological son of Keith, Adopted son of Shiro (Black Paladin) quarter human, three fourths Galran (Yes, he has cat ears, I did it on purpose...)
> 
> I'll reveal more info about the new paladins later. :)


	3. One Year Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins have a bit of a heart to heart, and Yorak loses his temper.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I... have no excuse for this chapter. It's technically filler until my next chapter is approved. But, hey, you get a glimpse at how my newer Paladins function together. For now...

\-----  
One Year Later  
\-----

Graven groaned, allowing his red helmet to disappear as he plopped down next to Revin who tossed his helmet aside, allowing it to disappear as well.

“These stupid trips to Daibazaal are getting on my last nerve.” Grumbled Alister who didn’t bother removing his helmet before it disappeared revealing he was wearing a bright orange headband as he plopped onto a couch next to where Revin and Graven were sitting.

“The Yellow Paladin actually getting mad, that’s a new one.” Graven snickered.

“**I want to shove this peace agreement so far up the Emperor’s ass even Zarkon’ll feel it.**” Alister muttered darkly in Balmerian.

“_I totally get it, buddy, but it’s our job to make sure that Altea and Daibazaal don’t try to blow each other to another reality._” Revin sighed in Altean.

“Attention, Paladins.” Yorak snapped as both he and Ana came into the Paladin Lounge, neither one wearing a helmet. Graven, Alister, and Revin groaned in unison. “We are heading back to Earth for now, this will allow Altea and Daibazaal to adjust to the restrictions the new draft of the Alliance has placed.” Yorak sighed looking to Ana.

“We’ve all earned a bit of leave once we get back to Earth. This doesn’t mean disappear for three days, Graven.” Ana paused while giving the older Paladin a pointed look. The short Green Paladin, paused to give a soft cough into her shoulder. 

“To be fair-” Graven began before Ana interrupted him.

“And this is why I am second in command, Graven Holt. You have got to get a handle on your drinking problem. You are a Paladin, the Paladin of the Red Lion to boot. Start acting like it when you’re on leave.” Ana growled. Yorak sighed.

“Calm down, **_Little One_**. Anabelle has a point, Graven. You do have a bit of a problem. The Admiral has been telling both Anabelle and I that you desperately need rehab. It has been discussed with the Garrison, and as much as I hate to say it Graven, this is your final warning.” Yorak said calmly, his ears pitched back in what appeared to be disappointment. Graven sighed.

“First off, I go out of my way to drink privately, thank you. It’s not my fault that other than on the ATLAS we have no privacy from the Media. Second, it’s none of the Garrison’s business what we do outside being Paladins. Third, I don’t see a reserve for Red anywhere, so hollow threats are going to get you nowhere. Fourth and finally, the media is going to have a field day when they realize that you and Ana are not only dating, but by Earth standards, she’s jail bait.” Graven shot back, causing Yorak to flush a bright magenta.

“That’s ENOUGH Red. We all have our orders, it’s about time you take a lesson from your predecessor and actually do what you’re told for once.” Ana snapped. “You’re lucky all of us have had your back on this. Black is right, this is your last warning, one more slip up with the Media and we WILL find a new Red Paladin. Get therapy, go to rehab, we don’t care what you do.” Ana snarled at her cousin.

“Hey, it isn’t fair to single Graven out like this. We’ve ALL done some shady shit that the media has blown out of proportion. Just because Revin has friends that are mainly female, the Media is making it look like Revin’s some kind of intergalactic sex trafficker. As a witness, the worst thing that Graven has ever done while drunk was eat a full gallon of gelato while sobbing, in Italian mind you, about Uncle Matt and Aunt Elle. When he’s drunk he’s as harmless as one of Aunt Katie’s Junk Caterpillars. Hell, I, myself have been accused multiple times of selling cruiser class Balmerian Crystals on the black market, just because I’m Balmerian. Ana has been accused multiple times over of stealing and selling classified information. Yorak has been accused of being a double agent just because he’s mostly Galra.” Alister stood, crossing his arms. “It’s the Media’s way of making five perfectly boring individuals sound more interesting. Honestly. Because Graven knows I don’t drink and I don’t condone drinking, he always has me watch him to make sure he doesn’t present a danger to himself. He’s been a depression drinker since Uncle Matt was killed. I can tell you right now, the times he “Disappeared” for a few days, was just him hiding at home so that the media would leave him alone.” Alister gave the others a look.

“Al’s right, the media has been looking for an excuse lately to question our ethics as a team. They’ve even gone so-far as to say that the Blades are attempting to go back to their former roots of an under cover rebel group, and that Yorak is secretly their leader.” Revin pipped up as he stood as well. “We all have our own cases of Survivors guilt, okay. As Al said, it’s not fair to single Graven out like he’s got a coping mechanism that’s severely frowned on. Papá y tío Keith estarían absolutamente horrorizados al ver cómo nos estamos destrozando en este momento.” Revin grumbled, reverting to Spanish in irritation. Ana sighed, rubbing her temples with a sigh that turned into a short cough.

“It’s a fair point, Anabelle…” Yorak said slowly. “They both do.”

“Look, I understand, we’re under far more pressure than our predecessors. Dad got away with a lot more than Aunt Katie and the other Paladins because he was a rebel leader. I know I’m not exactly my dad, and I’m sure you miss uncle Lance as much as I miss dad. I’m not going to get therapy, I’m not going to rehab, I don’t actually have a problem. If I had a problem I’d show up for missions and shit drunk or hung over. I only drink when I’m depressed to the point I don’t want to function. You’re not a saint either, Ana, none of us are. We all have super unhealthy coping mechanisms. I drink, Revin smokes, Alister bakes up a storm, not that I’m sure his is actually unhealthy, Yorak is a manhoe, and you probably could get arrested for the shit you do.” Graven sighed, leaning back and rubbing his temples. “I get it though, Graven’s grounded. I’ll put myself on Garrison Arrest, and I’ll stay with you and Revin if it’s that big of a deal.” Graven groaned. Ana sighed.

“Fine, Garrison Arrest is a start. That’ll at least make Admiral Iverson and Commander Rhys happy. Do you agree, Ana?” Yorak agreed looking to the shortest Paladin.

“The McClain house is probably the most bugged of all the houses on base, I mean two Paladins live there. I can easily disable any and all recording devices the media has planted since we’ve been gone. Hmmm, I did develop a rather harmless alloy using xanthorium, it doesn't exactly explode, but I'm sure it would annoy the shit out of the media if I replaced some of the circuit wiring with it.” Ana shrugged with a grin. “Revin and Alister are right, as usual. Yorak and I do need to stop jumping to conclusions. Graven is right, as usual. The media has been so far up our asses, it’s been pathetic. I’m almost about to show them a thing or five. It’s slowly corrupting even Iverson,and I’m sure that the person behind the anti-paladin propaganda is someone who hates us with a passion. I suggest we at least have a few varga of rest before we come up with a game plan of how to handle the Media after we get back to Earth. Until then, you’re all dismissed.” 

About a varga later, Ana knocked on the door to Yorak’s quarters. When she heard Yorak call for her to come in, she entered quietly, shutting the door behind her before she came face to face with Yorak.

“You asked me to come by?” She asked softly. Yorak nodded with a sigh.

“Alister brought up a valid point, Anabelle. If the Garrison, or anyone finds out that you and I are dating, there may be legal repercussions.” Yorak said quietly, rising from the bed, locking gazes with Ana.

“You wouldn’t be breaking up with me, would you?” Ana asked almost childishly. Yorak gave a snort of amusement.

“No, Anabelle, why in the stars would I ever consider allowing another male to take what is rightfully mine?” Yorak asked with a rare possessive smirk. Ana blushed.

“Well, you said that the others were right…” Ana said sheepishly as she took a step back.

“Again, why would I allow another male to take what is rightfully mine? By all rights, if I wanted to and if you agreed, we could elope whenever we chose.” Yorak pointed out. Ana gave a high giggle of nervousness.

“It’s only been a little over a year, Yorak. You can’t possibly be thinking of proposing.” She said softly. Yorak took a step toward Ana with a curious look. “Yorak, you’re twenty, I’m not even sixteen yet. I mean granted, the Altean Age of Adulthood is fourteen and Galran is fifteen, but that’s not my point. Yes, we’ve been together for a bit over a year. We’ve been friends since I was born. Why are you looking at me like that?” Ana asked as Yorak merely smirked. He said nothing as he gently caught Ana in a kiss. She groaned softly, kissing him in return for a few moments before she broke the kiss with a gasp. “Yorak!” She gasped with a slight vein of embarrassment.

“Why not, Anabelle? You know I would never pressure you into a decision you didn’t feel was proper, but in all honesty, other than this stupid fallacy about our ages.” Yorak took a step toward Ana making her take another step back.

“For the love of the stars what is with you? Yes, you’re absolutely gorgeous. Yes, I absolutely adore you. But mateship is a lot to think about, Yorak. By Altean and Galran standards, there would be no divorce if it doesn’t work out. I mean, you’re my best friend, Yorak. I want to be sure we both want that kind of commitment in our lives before we could ever agree.” Ana babbled nervously.

“And what if I’ve already thought about it?” Yorak countered. 

“Yorak, I don’t want to argue about it. I haven’t given it much thought. I know that one day, I’d love to become your mate, but as of right now I don’t know if you and I are ready to take on that responsibility.” Ana said, gasping as her back hit the wall behind her. She swallowed as Yorak crossed his arms, he seemed to be less than amused. 

“Anabelle, we know everything there is to know about one another. I know your darkest secrets, just as you know mine. This has been a conversation we’ve needed to have for a few phoebs now.” Yorak said quietly.

“Well… I… That is… You know… Yorak, you can’t possibly be serious… Are you?” Ana asked softly.

“I’m as serious as I can be, Anabelle. If I had my way, I would have eloped with you when we first got together. I’ve thought about it for decaphoebs, to be honest with you.” Yorak sighed, “I want to know how you truly feel about the subject. Clear reasoning, I want to know if I’m the only one who feels this way, or if you agree.” Yorak said with a sigh. Ana frowned looking to the floor.

“Why are you getting so possessive all of a sudden? You know me well enough, Yorak, to know what my answer is to almost everything there is to ask about. You’re a wonderful guy, Yorak, but I honestly think I’m a bit young to decide whether or not to jump ship and go for it. Yes, I’m extremely intelligent for my age. Yes, you’re damn good looking. As much as I’d love to just throw caution to the wind and say yes, I would rather wait. I’m not trying to be a tease or anything, and I don’t want you thinking that I’m completely shutting down the idea… I just want to make sure it is what we want before I agree.” Ana reasoned with a frown. Yorak sighed as he went to Ana, gently taking hold of her hips.

“You make it hard to argue when you use sound reasoning.” Yorak chuckled as he gently gave Ana a brief kiss. “Your beauty, your intelligence, your poise… It’s no wonder you became Green’s Paladin.” Yorak chuckled in between kisses.

“You make it hard to be reasonable when you’re tempting me. You have no idea how much I want you to shut up and sleep with me.” Ana giggled as Yorak pulled back, giving her a sultry grin.

“I do believe I can oblige…” Yorak bent down and gently pressed his lips to hers, eliciting a soft moan of satisfaction from the small woman. Slowly Ana reached up to tangle her hands in his dark black hair. He groaned loudly against her lips as he brought his hand from the wall to gently weave into the hair at the base of her neck, pulling her as close as he could. Ana pressed into the tall Galran man, groaning softly into the kiss. “Are you willing, my Little One?” Yorak whispered against her lips. Ana pulled back slightly.

“I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this…” She muttered in a soft tone. “If you want to proceed you better have brought protection.” Ana met Yorak’s gaze. Yorak chuckled, pressing a kiss to Ana’s lips.

“Don’t mistake me for an animal, Anabelle. I have no desire of having a cub anytime soon. Perhaps after we’re mated, I would consider it, but only when you state you would want one.” Yorak stated as he kissed down her neck. Ana tipped her head back to give him easier access with a soft moan.

“Oh god, Yorak…” Ana gasped as Yorak’s hands slipped under her green t-shirt. Yorak groaned softly against her neck.

“Ana, how badly do you want me?” Yorak asked quietly. Ana seemed to notice that Yorak seemed a bit tense. Ana groaned softly.

“Are you in rut?” Ana asked timidly. Yorak nodded into her neck.

“Your scent is driving me up the wall, all I want is to just lose myself in you. I know it’s not right of me to even suggest just having sex just because of my physical inability to control my urges. It’s part of the reason I wanted to know if you would be interested in becoming my mate.” Yorak said softly as he gently nipped Ana’s neck. Ana gave a small whimper of pleasure.

“Fuck, I can’t believe I’m saying this. I’m not in the mood for foreplay, I’m not in the mood for anything gentle, ravish me if you want.” Ana more growled than stated. Yorak chuckled as he roughly grabbed Ana by the wrist, twirling her away from the wall so that she fell backward on the bed in the middle of Yorak’s bunk. He went to the bedside table and practically ripped the drawer open, retrieving a small foil packet. Yorak then went to the bed and grabbed Ana by the front of the shirt, pulling her into a kiss with a surprised squeak. Ana reached down to grab Yorak’s shirt, working it up his torso. Yorak gave a growl as he ripped his shirt from Ana’s grasp, pulled it off, and threw it across the room. Ana reached up to gently run her hands over his chest. Yorak gave a soft purr before her reached down and gently pulled Ana’s shirt over her head.

“Fuck, Ana… You are by far the most beautiful woman I have ever known.” Yorak mumbled against Ana’s lips as he caught her in another kiss. Ana gave a rather unattractive grunt as she pulled at Yorak’s belt, trying to remove it without breaking contact with Yorak’s lips. “Having problems with that, Anabelle?” Yorak teased as he reached down to take the belt from Ana, causing her to swear softly under her breath in Spanish. He worked the belt free of his pants, throwing it haphazardly to the floor, cursing softly in Galran as he also dropped the small foil packet. Ana gave an impatient growl as she quickly dipped off the edge of the bed, retrieving the packet before she realized that Yorak had quickly removed his pants and boxers.

“Quiznak, you got enough dick, Yorak?” Ana asked as she stared at his erect member in shock. Yorak chuckled, realizing that this was the first time she had ever seen him in the complete nude as he snatched the packet from Ana.

“Only if you think I do.” Yorak mused. Ana smirked looking up at her Galran boyfriend with a smirk. Ana reached out a hand to gently grasp his cock, causing him to groan softly. She bent down to gently swirl her tongue over the head. Yorak gave a groan before he chuckled deeply. “As much as I’d love to fuck that smart mouth of yours, Anabelle, I have other priorities.” Yorak gently pushed her backward, grabbing the waist of her green shorts, and pulling both her shorts and panties off in one swift motion. Ana blushed softly as Yorak grinned down at her. Ana repositioned herself on the bed, Yorak joined her, hovering over her while gently showering her neck and shoulders with soft kisses.

“Yorak…” Ana gasped softly. Yorak chuckled pulling back as he tore open the foil packet. He slid the rubber sheath over his cock before he leaned over Ana, gently kissing down her jaw and neck.

“I won’t be able to hold back if we continue, Anabelle. Last chance to change your mind.” He muttered against her throat. Ana groaned as she draped her arms languidly over his shoulders.

“Fuck me, Yorak, or I’ll tell the others that the Black Paladin is a fucking coward.” Ana snapped as Yorak chuckled again.

“As you wish, Anabelle.” Yorak purred as he thrust into her, the movement swift and harsh. Ana cried out in both shock and pain, clinging to Yorak. He seemed to notice that Ana had tensed up involuntarily, a soft whimper escaping her. Yorak swore softly. “Damn it, Ana.”

“I didn’t think about it…” Ana admitted softly, referring to the fact that due to a miscarriage almost two years prior, it was almost as if it were Ana’s first time in bed.

“The green paladin didn’t think, that’s a new one, Ana.” Yorak panted softly. Ana gave a soft look before she kissed Yorak with a moan.

“Shut the fuck up and move.” Ana ordered between short fiery kisses. Yorak obeyed, groaning as he pulled almost all the way out before thrusting back into her harshly. Yorak’s mouth muffled the pleasured yelp that escaped the small woman. “Oh, fuck, Yorak…” Ana gasped as he gave a few shorter, harder thrusts.

“Oh god, Ana. You’re so fucking tight.” Yorak grunted into her shoulder. Ana whined in response.

“Eres enorme ...” Ana whimpered, clinging to Yorak. Yorak gave a particularly hard thrust causing Ana to let out a surprised scream of pleasure. Yorak gave a soothing hiss as he claimed her lips.

“Not so loud, the others will hear you…” Yorak whispered as Ana gave a strained whimper.

“It’s not my fault you’re- oh fuck.” Ana snapped only to be silenced by another hard thrust from Yorak. Yorak chuckled as he roughly claimed Ana’s lips again.

“I’m what?” Yorak groaned against Ana’s lips. Ana gasped as Yorak pulled almost all the way out only to slam back into her again. Luckily Yorak’s mouth muffled the pleasured scream that tore from Ana’s throat.

“You asshole.” Ana moaned against Yorak’s lips before tilting her head back so that Yorak could kiss and suck at her neck. “You leave a mark and Iverson will kill you.” Ana warned through her gasps. “Oh, fuck.” Ana groaned as she happened to look over Yorak’s shoulder to see a tall man in a garrison uniform standing in the doorway.

“When you two are finished, I’d like to see you both in my office.” The man snapped before making his exit and slamming the door behind him. Yorak groaned as he laid his head on Ana’s shoulder.

“It’s your fault for making me scream…” Ana grumbled.

“Fuck, my mood is gone. Yours?” Yorak asked. Ana grumbled irritably.

“Same. Fucking Iverson HAD to walk in.” Ana grumbled. Yorak slowly pulled out of Ana, groaning as he shimmied off the bed.

“Bets on who loses their temper first?” Yorak asked as he stood, bending to grab his pants from the floor.

“Easy, Iverson will be the first to lose his temper, but you’ll be the first to completely lose your shit. The famous Keith Kogane was your biological father after all.” Ana reasoned as she located her shorts on the opposite side of the bed, grabbing them with a grunt as she flopped over onto her stomach. With a chuckle, Yorak reached over to playfully swat Ana’s rear, making her scream in delight. “YORAK! Behave!” Ana giggled loudly as the black paladin finished putting his pants on.

“With you, Little One that’s a long shot.” Yorak grinned. Ana rolled her eyes as she rolled off the bed and quickly donned her panties and shorts. Yorak tossed Ana her shirt as she threw his shirt to him. Ana sighed as she rounded the bed and pulled her shoes out from under the bed, sliding them on as Yorak came up behind her and gently rested his hands on her hips.

“Maybe after Iverson’s lecture, if we’re back on earth, you want to go out for dinner?” Yorak asked bending to kiss Ana’s neck. Ana hummed in contentment as she tilted her head so that Yorak had better access.

“I don’t know are we talking fast food or are we talking sit down and cozy?” Ana returned. Yorak chuckled.

“Sit down and cozy at your father’s favorite restaurant, because we all know you’re a sucker for Garlic knots, just like your father was.” Yorak returned with a smile.

“Papá would absolutely kill you, you know that, right?” Ana giggled before she turned to gently kiss Yorak, which turned into a short make out session before Ana pulled away. “Later, Tiger. If you can keep it in your pants until we’re back on earth, I’ll treat you with the best blowjob you’ve ever had.” Ana whispered barely loud enough to be caught by Yorak’s large cat-like ears.

“You drive a hard bargain, Little One. Unfortunately for us, it’s lecture time.” Yorak said pulling away from Ana. Ana sighed.

“Fine, let’s get the screaming fest over with.” Ana sighed again. Yorak groaned as Ana led the way from the room. The pair made their way from the Paladin bunks, stopping outside a door several corridors away that was labeled “M. Iverson.” The two entered the room, Yorak shutting the door behind himself as Iverson stood from his desk and scowled at the Black and Green Paladins with a look of anger.

“Are the two of you out of your everloving minds?!” Iverson hissed at the two.

“That’s a rhetorical question, Sir.” Ana said mildly. Iverson gave a growl of frustration.

“If space had a clear age of adulthood, I would have you arrested, Kogane!” Iverson, as Ana had predicted, lost his temper first. A rather ugly magenta flush crossed Yorak’s cheeks.

“With all due, respect, Admiral. Among the Alteans, Anabelle is old enough to both be considered an adult and be mated if she so found the right person. As Paladins, you only need to know what happens between us as a leader and second in command. For the record, Anabelle and I have acted rather professionally regarding our Paladinships as well as our relationship has been kept behind closed doors.” Yorak practically spat at Iverson.

“How long has this been going on?” Iverson snapped. Ana shrugged.

“About a decaphoeb, or just a little over a year.” Ana shrugged, “Not that it’s any of your business, sir, what Yorak and I do outside being Paladins.” Ana crossed her arms over her chest.

“Nobody asked you what was or wasn’t my business, McClain. Lance and Pidge conducted themselves with far more decorum than the both of you combined. Same with Takeshi and Keith. Your predecessors would die of shame if they could see your behavior!” Iverson snapped. Ana scowled her hand twitching slightly as if she were trying to refrain from summoning her bayard.

“Like Anabelle and myself, The previous blue and Green Paladins and the previous Red and Black Paladins kept their relationship behind closed doors. Among the Galra and among the Alteans we are plenty of age to mind our own business. As far as I am aware, we’re not on a mission, we’re actually on our way back to earth, therefore there is nothing unprofessional about a pair minding their own business.” Yorak scowled at Iverson.

“Do you want to be tried for insubordination, Shirogane?” Iverson snapped. Yorak gave a snarl.

“What are you going to do? Try to take Black? Good luck trying to find a new Paladin that Black trusts, and good luck finding a leader for a team that has been together since childhood.” Yorak snarled vehemently.

“If I had the ability, you would be stripped of rank and imprisoned! Both of you!” Iverson howled. This seemed to be Yorak’s tipping point.

“I’D LIKE TO SEE YOUR SORRY ASS TRY IT, IVERSON! YOU TRY BEING A PALADIN, YOU SORRY EXCUSE OF A FUCK!” Yorak began to yell, his face slowly turning magenta.

“Yorak, calm down.” Ana said soothingly as she gently took his hand. To both Iverson’s horror and surprise, Yorak ripped his hand from Ana and pointed a finger at iverson.

“**_I WILL REPEAT THIS ONE MORE TIME, YOU AREN’T EITHER OF MY FATHERS NOR ARE YOU MY GOD DAMN MOTHER. WHAT I DO OUTSIDE MY PALADINSHIP IS NONE OF YOUR FUCKING BUSINESS! AS THE BLACK PALADIN, MY DECISIONS AS THE HEAD OF VOLTRON DECIDE WHETHER A MISSION IS SUCCESSFUL OR A FAILURE! NOT ONCE HAVE I LET MY PERSONAL LIFE DICTATE HOW TO BE A GOD DAMN PALADIN! IF YOU WANT TO GET RID OF ME SO BAD, I FUCKING DARE YOU TO FIND A FUCKING REPLACEMENT!_**” Yorak snarled in Galra, his face a deep shade of magenta.

“YORAK!” Ana gasped. “He doesn’t mean it, Admiral.” And grabbed Yorak by the arm as it looked like the Black Paladin was about to punch Iverson.

“**_I mean EVERY fucking word, Anabelle. This mother fucker wants to pretend that our relationship effects my ability to be the leader of Team Voltron. He wants to pretend that he can do better, I’d like to see him TRY!_**” Yorak snarled again in Galran, rounding on the smaller Paladin.

“Yorak, Iverson doesn’t speak Galran. I doubt he realizes what you’re threatening him with. Please, **_My love_**, calm down.” Ana tried to say soothingly. Yorak turned to stare Ana down, she swallowed when she saw his eyes were more cat-like than human, making her swallow weakly as he gave an almost feral growl.

“CALM!? YOU WANT ME CALM!? ANABELLE, HE STARTED THE THREATS!!!” Yorak snarled making Ana shrink away from the black Paladin.

“**_Tiger_**, I mean it. Calm down. Threats or no threats. We are all adults here by Human, Galran, and Altean standards. Your father would be disappointed, I know Shiro taught you to control yourself better than this. You’re the Black Paladin for a reason, Yorak. Yes, we probably shouldn’t have indulged in our personal affairs while on board the ATLAS. Sure, it looks weird because of my human age rather than my Universal. But I’ll be fucked if I let you walk off and abandon your duty as Black’s Paladin. You were sworn in just after Shiro was killed in action, just as Revin and I were sworn in immediately following mama’s passing. I get it you’re pissed that Iverson is pissed about finding out we’re together. In a way, Iverson has a right to be pissed, and in a way, we have a right to be pissed about our privacy.” Ana sighed, giving Yorak a look that reminded Iverson quite heavily of Pidge.

“The logical one, just like your mother.” Iverson noted. Ana looked around Yorak and raised a brow.

“I AM the Green paladin for a reason. I have her temper as well, Iverson. You’re lucky I have the brains to not shoot you for comparing me to Mama.” Ana snapped at the older man. Yorak sighed, slowly his eyes returned to normal.

“Anabelle is right. In both respects. Yes, we’re aware that it was poor judgement on our parts, mainly mine, for Ana and I to indulge our personal life on board the ATLAS. It was childish of you to threaten me with insubordination when I have a higher rank than you, Admiral. It was childish of me to goad you by daring you to find a new Paladin for Black.” Yorak reached up to scratch behind one of his fluffy ears. Iverson sighed.

“I don’t want to catch you two again. If Lance and Pidge were still alive, I’m sure that the two of them would have you arrested.” Iverson sighed making Ana snort.

“Mama would ask if we were at least using condoms, and Papa would ask how good Yorak is in bed. I’m a McClain, I couldn’t keep it in my pants if I tried. I’m also a Holt, I have about as much shame and modesty as a rock.” Ana shot finger guns at Iverson with a rather pleased grin. Iverson rolled his eyes.

“Get out of my office, and don’t you dare try any funny stuff for the remainder of the time on the ATLAS.” Iverson ordered. Ana merely smirked as she shoved Yorak in the small of the back toward the door.

“Next time, here’s a tip: Knock.” Ana said before she proceeded to push Yorak from the room, opening the door before ushering Yorak out and exiting herself. Once out of Iverson’s office and down the hall, Ana fell into step next to Yorak, sighing heavily. “You have GOT to work on your temper, Yorak.” Ana said slowly as she looked to the tall Galran man. To her surprise, his ears folded back before he spoke.

“I know. It’s the one time of year I can’t stand being three quarters Galran. My sense goes completely out the window and I lose my shit so fast I don’t even think about repercussions. I don’t think I’ve ever threatened Iverson like that before…” Yorak reached up to sheepishly scratch behind one of his fluffy ears again.

“You haven’t. As attractive as you are screaming Galran at someone, I have to admit that scared the shit out of me that you were threatening him to find a new Black Paladin.” Ana said with a sigh.

“Ohhhhhh~ Yorak ACTUALLY threatened to leave the team? That’s a first. So is that what all the Galran screaming was about a few minutes ago coming from Iverson’s office?” cooed the voice of Alister as the Balmerian boy joined the duo on Yorak’s left side.

“Iverson finally caught on that Yorak and I are a thing. Long story short he brought our parents in on the subject stating that they would have had Yorak arrested, and Yorak lost his shit because it’s his Galran Man Period time.” Ana explained, purposefully leaving out that Iverson had caught them in bed. Alister gave an “oof” of sympathy.

“Dude, don’t the Galra have a drug for that? I mean they have a drug for everything else it seems like.” Alister asked.

“They sure do, but it’s expensive as hell and it renders a male sterile as fuck for at least two years. I mean if you can deal with the side effects it’s worth it, but you also don’t have a sex drive, AT ALL while on it. It’s how my dads were able to tolerate me as a young teen without me going to hump every female I’d lay eyes on.” Yorak shrugged. “I kind of enjoy a good fuck, soooo, I’m not even thinking of getting any anytime soon.” Yorak rolled his eyes at Alister who merely sighed.

“Then you’re going to have to work on your patience then. There’s no reserve Paladins at this time, and I doubt there will be for some time. You so much as think of leaving the team again and I’ll personally knock you out.” Alister crossed his arms over his chest as Yorak sighed.

“I know, Anabelle has already lectured me.” Yorak grumbled.

“So, the Lion’s out of the sack, eh? The whole Garrison is going to know about the two of you by tomorrow, you know that right?” Alister asked. Ana shrugged.

“You act like the Garrison is going to be surprised. I mean we’ve been together for a little over a year in Earth time, a little bit over a decaphoeb in universal time. It’s not like it’s HARD to guess. We don’t exactly make it subtle on base.” Ana rolled her eyes.

“I swear, the two of you are nauseating. It’s no wonder that Iverson found out. Rumor has it he walked in on the two of you doing the deed. So, details?” Chuckled a voice as Graven joined them, looping his arms over Yorak and Alister’s shoulders. Yorak flushed and Ana shrugged.

“To be honest, Iverson didn’t knock. And to be fair, Yorak was the one who decided to make me scream in the first place. I’ve slept with about three guys so-far, and I would have to say Yorak is probably the best yet.” Ana said nonchalantly with a half shrug.

“Anabelle, shut up, the Paladins don’t need to know-” Yorak was cut off by a snort from Graven. The sandy haired Altean grinned at their leader.

“Yo-yo, sometimes I wonder how you could be our leader when you get embarrassed so easily. I mean, take the other day for example. I swear to FUCK Ana was purposefully wearing a thong under her jumpsuit just so you would stare at her ass.” Graven chuckled. Ana sighed.

“No, I didn’t have any clean laundry so I went commando. Jesus. You’d think as the only female Paladin, people would be more willing to make sure I have a good stack of fresh panties.” Ana grumbled.

“Since when did you need an excuse to give Yorak a boner?” asked Graven releasing Alister and Yorak, falling into step beside his cousin.

“I don’t, really. It’s not like it’s hard to give anyone a boner, really. And considering Yorak’s on his GMP, it’s not difficult in the least bit. It’s not like I didn’t enjoy myself before Iverson rudely interrupted. I’m pretty sure he did it on purpose.” Ana said with another half shrug. Graven snorted.

“Well, details, come on, Ana, spill the tea.” Alister chuckled making Yorak groan.

“If I hadn’t been bribed with garlic knots and a second round, I sure would spill the tea. But considering Tigerbuns is about to die of embarrassment, I’ll tell you later.” Ana winked at her cousin before Yorak clapped a hand to his face and slid it downward in a display of exasperation.

“You’re impossible, Anabelle.” Yorak groaned. Ana merely smirked as she shot a side glance to Yorak.

“Tio Matt was worse than mama about talking about his and Tia Ellie’s sex life, us McClains and Holts are so used to sex talk it’s pathetic. It’s not my fault that Nana Krolia gave you the WORST birds and the bees talk of anyone’s lifetime when you finally stopped getting your yearly shot.” Ana said with a sigh.

“To be fair, I never really asked about it…” Yorak grumbled.

“Dude, I knew what a dick was for and how to use it the day I started going through puberty. Granted Balmerian puberty isn’t as bad as Galran Ruts.” Alister pipped up with a grin. Graven rolled his eyes.

“Try getting the Altean equivelant. Granted, I don’t turn into a rabid asshole, but I can get pretty close. I’m pretty sure Revin doesn’t have a hyper sexual drive once a year like most Alteans and Altean halfies like us.” Graven said thoughtfully. Ana gave a snort.

“Rev’s still a virgin and he takes a suppressant for that because his temper puts Yorak to shame when he’s off meds.” Ana giggled.

“To be fair, I pity the female who gets me to stop taking my suppressants.” Said a voice from beside Alister as Revin looked past the Balmerian to his sister. Ana smirked.

“You’ll have to find a girl who will be stupid enough to fall for the Blue Paladin first.” Ana shot back.

“You mean like Yorak’s stupid enough to sleep with you?” Revin shot back with a grin.

“Revin!” Yorak yelped looking to the younger man with a pleading look.

“We’re JAIL BAIT, Yorak. I can’t BELIEVE you, of all people, would be seduced by Ana. I mean she’s short, she’s got a temper and a half, and I still don’t believe that you’re dating.” Revin stated crossing his arms over his chest with a smug smirk.

“For fucks sake, Rev.” Ana huffed before she grabbed Yorak by the shoulder, looped a hand behind his head and pulled him in for a passionate kiss.

“Oh god, please stop.” Alister groaned playfully. Ana seemed to ignore Alister as she gave a groan into the kiss, giggling shortly. When the two pulled apart, Ana grinned as Yorak gave a growl.

“Ah-ah, Yorak. Keep it in your pants for now.” Ana giggled as she shoved Yorak in the face with a devious smile as he attempted to dive in for another kiss.

“Okay then, I stand corrected. You’re using condoms and shit, right?” Revin asked as Yorak’s ears flattened back in annoyance.

“Tease.” Yorak grumbled irritably.

“Oh, you’ll be sorry you said that when we get back to Earth, Yorak. To answer your question, Revin, do we look like animals? As tío Matt used to say constantly to Graven, no glove no love.” Ana retorted.

“Well, you said you’ve slept with three guys, haven’t you ever wondered what it’s like without it? I mean, I personally don’t care for condoms and I could care less if a gal is on the pill or not, but I’m not super active or anything. Plus, I make it very clear that if I get a girl pregnant that I’d want to raise the baby with her.” Graven shrugged. Ana scowled.

“I’m not stupid enough to want to even risk having a kid. Birth control or I’m not sleeping with you, pure and simple.” Ana grumbled.

“Ohhhh, judging by your tone, Ana, you’ve done it at least once. So, who, when, and details?” Graven asked with a grin. Ana scowled.

“She was drunk, first of all, second of all, if anyone mentions it again, I’ll knock you into next year.” Revin surprisingly grumbled.

“I got sick, sick enough to land in the hospital, okay. Tío Hunk was so mad he literally threatened the guy with a bayard to his head, and you remember how hard it was to piss off tío Hunk. Pop-pop got into some serious trouble because I had Alcohol poisoning so bad that it would have put a pure human into a coma. The guy in question was arrested for taking advantage of me while intoxicated and due to the fact I’m not fully Altean, he was sent to Betatraz for contribution to Delinquency of a Minor as Pop-pop wasn’t paying attention and the guy gave me harder alcohol than what was served at the event. I’m pretty sure he drugged me too, I didn’t actually get to see the toxicology report because the Garrison thought I wasn’t mature enough to see it, but we won’t get into that. I’m surprised nobody noticed I was on Garrison Arrest for five months, as well as Pop-pop was on Garrison Arrest as well.” Ana sighed. “You don’t have to get mad that they asked, Revin.” Ana sighed.

“Geez. You’re almost as bad as Aunt Katie was. I mean, when the war ended she had how many felonies?” Graven asked with a low whistle. Ana shrugged.

“Mamá had I think fifteen felonies? At least seven of those were felony forgery of a government employee. In short, mama should have gone to prison on the forgery charges alone. I think the reason she never got in actual trouble was because she was a paladin. I know Papa and Nana were pissed to high hell over it. I just have two misdemeanors on my record, they could have easily become felonies but since they factored in the fact that I am half Altean, and the fact that I’m a paladin, I got off almost scott free.” Ana sounded almost proud of herself. 

“When we get back to Earth, you know Pop-pop isn’t going to let the two of you live it down, right?” Asked Alister.

“Oh, we already know it’s going to be a shit fest, thanks for reminding us.” Yorak groaned.


	4. One Step Forward, Thirty Years Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins find themselves face to face with their predecessors. Things get awkward, quick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This got approved just as I got the previous chapter posted, so, here you go!
> 
> Have... Have I ever mentioned how much Revin and Graven's banter reminds me of Season one/two Keith and Lance? No? Well, they do. and I'm legit crying over what Revin says in this chapter.

\-----  
Present Day  
\-----

“In the last ten thousand decaphoebs, or years, this is the second rift comet to hit Daibazaal.” Explained a man with dark brown hair, glasses, and a scowl. “The Citizens of Daibazaal have been evacuated to Altea and Emperor Lotor is actually quite upset that we’re sending you five in to investigate if the planet is safe for the Galra to return.” 

“If he didn’t hate us, we’d take him with.” Alister grumbled. Ana nudged the yellow paladin in the gut with an elbow.

“I’m sure the Emperor’s concerns are valid, Commander Rhys. As Paladins, we’re obliged to make sure that the citizens of the universe: Galran, Altean, Balmeran, or even Olkari, are safe from harm. Please, rest assured that we will do whatever we can to ensure the safety of Daibazaal and her people.” Yorak said giving the brown haired man a salute.

“Paladins, to your Lions. You will rendezvous on Daibazaal in a half varga.” Chimed in Sam, grinning at the younger generation.

~~~~~~~~~

All was silent as the Paladins stepped into the Bridge of the Castle of Lions. 

Allura took up her normal spot in the middle, just behind Shiro. The Altean woman hesitated as she put her hands on the controls. 

“If we make a wormhole jump, we can reduce the time we get there by just a few quintants, but at this time I don’t know how much the Teledav can take…” Coran stated, twirling his mustache in nervousness. From Allura’s left, Pidge gave a groan. 

“I don’t want to fix the Teledav again, can’t we just forgo the jump?” Pidge asked with a scowl. Coran sighed.

“Pidge might be right, there’s a chance we could get stuck in a loop again, Princess.” Coran said as he poked at the interface in front of him. “That’s odd…” Coran said with a scowl at his radar screen. There was a flash of bright white light before fading back to black.

“Paladins, are you seeing this?” Allura asked as she pulled her hands away from the controls to stare at the main screen as something came into view. That something seemed to be all five Lions floating in the black expanse of space.

“Princess, we’re getting a communication!” Pidge said loudly as her fingers flew over the display in front of her, flicking the communication to Allura’s display. Allura began to play the communication, it was a young Galra looking man wearing what appeared to be the Black Paladin armor, and appeared to be in the cockpit of the Black Lion.

“Commander Rhys! Thank the stars you finally answered! We need the ATLAS, and we need it now!” The young man yelled. He looked almost panicked, as he seemed to register Allura and the Paladins. “You’re not the Commander…” He stated much more calmly. A woman’s voice rang through the communications.

“Black, what’s the status? Green’s not responding, I can’t get in touch with Blue, Red, or Yellow either.” The voice said followed by a short cough. 

“Black is operational. We have a problem, Green. A big one. The ATLAS is gone.” The man labeled Black said almost quietly. He tapped something on his interface before his eyes widened. “Ven, Al, Rev, do you copy? We have a problem.” Black hesitated before he reached over and the sound was muted. If it wasn’t for the fact that both Allura and Pidge could read lips, they wouldn’t have known what he was saying. “Somehow, according to Black, we’re thirty years in the past, and I’m staring right at our parents. No, they’re alive, I guess… I don’t know… Yeah, like I said, I’m staring at them. Even the Princess. Wild, right? I know, last thing I remember was you, McClain, screaming for us to move due to an unusual quintessence spike, then the explosion.” Black mouthed to what was possibly a different communications window. At the mention of Lance’s last name Pidge shot a glance at Lance before a second communications window appeared and a seemingly Altean woman in green armor scowled down at the group, from what the team could see she had dark brunette hair and green markings on her cheeks. At present the woman seemed irritated as she fiddled with a screen in front of her, coughing into her shoulder.

“Good news is, the Lions aren’t as beat up as we think they might be. I don’t know if the others are unconscious or just plain stupid, none of them are responding to me. You boys are such a quiznaking pain in my ass.” The woman gave a groan that made almost everyone on the bridge look directly at Pidge. The woman then let out a cough, growling in frustration.

“Easy, Ana. Anyway, I’m assuming by the matching colors and the fact Princess Allura is standing front and center that we’re staring at the bridge of the legendary Castle of Lions. I’m not as smart as Ana, but I’m willing to bet you’re the current Paladins of Voltron. I’m Yorak, Yorak Shirogane-Kogane, I’m obviously the Future Paladin of the Black Lion.” The newly labeled Yorak gave a nod. The woman gave a sigh.

“What this dumb quiznak is trying to say is somehow we’re thirty years in the past. The Lions may be made of over ten thousand year old Altean tech, but I’m still smarter than a bunch of fucking wires and circuits.” The woman named Ana paused to cough again. She then curled up in the pilot seat, in a very pidge-esque way before her fingers flew deftly over the displays and interfaces in front of her.

“Ana, please mind your tongue…” Yorak groaned, running a hand over his face. “You’re starting to sound like Aunt Katie, again.” Ana merely shrugged.

“That attitude is genetic I guess. Annnddd…. Vrepit sa, mother quiznakers.” Ana grinned shooting finger guns at a screen to her left as three displays popped up to three more very disgruntled men. “Alright, assholes, status report, now.” Ana sighed in exasperation, coughing again into her shoulder.

“Uhhh, Who are those guys?” Asked a young man, also obviously Altean, wearing blue armor. “Wait a minute, PAPÀ?!” The young man practically jumped from his seat to take a closer look at the display, allowing the paladins to see he had light brown hair and light blue markings on his face. 

“What the quiznak? This is weird.” Said the young balmerian man in yellow armor.

“Agh, you’re impossible. Both of you, settle down. You’re looking at our predecessors, the former paladins of Voltron. According to Black we’re about thirty years in the past. Are your Lions operational?” Yorak asked with a sigh.

“Green’s down.” Ana said almost boredly.

“Blue’s fine.” The altean man in blue said with a sigh.

“Yellow wants Calzones.” The Balmerian man said with a chuckle.

“Alister!” The others said in exasperated unison.

“Hey, Ven, what’s your status?” Asked the Altean in blue.

“Red is apparently mad at me, like I was responsible for the explosion or something. She’s not going anywhere.” Sighed another Altean in the red armor, this one had light magenta markings, sandy brown hair and a deep scowl on his face.

“Ohhhhh, Ven-Ven made his lion ANNNNGGGRRRYYYY….” Drawled the one in blue.

“Shut the fuck up, McClain!” The one in red snapped.

“Ohhhhh, what are you going to do? Come over here and make me, Holt?” The one in blue grinned, making everyone turn to look at Lance. 

“Jesus, both of you, shut up. I already have a headache.” Ana groaned before she coughed yet again. “Anyway, Schematics that Papa had from the Castle of Lions, state there’s enough room in each hangar for… Jesus quiznaking Christ. This thing is smaller than the ATLAS, but it’s still a roomy son of a bitch.” 

“Ana, jesus, watch your mouth.” Yorak groaned with a second reprimand at the Altean woman’s foul language.

“You want me to start talking in Galran? I can do that. I can also lapse quite easily into Spaltean, if you REALLY want me to.” Ana said sweetly.

“No offense, but who are you, and why do you have Lions?” Blurt out Hunk, who apparently hadn’t been paying attention. 

“With your permission, Princess, can we board? We’ll explain more clearly in person. Apparently Green is possibly damaged and Red is being her stubborn self…” Yorak trailed off.

“I’m game for it. It’s not like the ATLAS is anywhere that I can see, and I’m getting kind of hungry.” The Balmerian in yellow, named Alister, grinned widely.

“Agh, you’re just like tìo Hunk, Al. You always think about food.” Ana grumbled causing everyone to look at Hunk. 

“The only one who DOESN’T act like their predecessor is Graven.” Mused the one in Blue.

“That’s because tìo Matt wasn’t a Paladin, dumbass.” Responded Ana.

“Anabelle, Revin, I swear to the fucking stars, if you two would shut up for five doboshes, we can see what’s going on. Now, do we have permission, Princess?” Yorak seemed to be slowly becoming more and more done with his teammate’s banter.

“Yes. Pidge, Keith, would you two mind going to get… I’m sorry, what are your names?” Allura asked tentatively. The five on the screen seemed to be exchanging glances via their communications.

“As I said before I’m Yorak, Yorak Shirogane-Kogane, Black Paladin.” Yorak said with a frown.

“Shit, do we have to? I feel like this is giving futuristic spoilers.” Ana grumbled.

“Just introduce yourself.” Yorak sighed.

“Fine. I’m Ana, Anabelle McClain. Green Paladin, obviously.” Ana huffed rolling her eyes. Lance and Pidge both raised a brow at the woman’s response.

“Name’s Graven, Graven Holt. Red Paladin.” The one in red stated, looking quite bored.

“Yo! I’m Alister! Alister Garrett, Yellow Paladin!” Chirped the Balmerian.

“Name’s Revin, Revin McClain. Blue Paladin, Sup?” The one in blue grinned shooting finger guns and nodding.

“Please tell me you’re not going to flirt with them, that’s so gross. I swear you’re worse than papà...” Ana groaned as she obviously shot a pointed look at Revin via her communications.

“Ewwwww… You realize they’re practically all familia, right?” Revin drawled.

“GIVE IT A REST YOU TWO!” Yorak growled. “I’m so sorry, the Twins do this all the time. It’s not shocking that they’re both Paladins, but SOMETIMES they need to learn to take things more seriously.” Allura looked over her shoulder to the stunned Paladins behind her.

“Can you five give us a moment?” Allura said before she reached up to mute her side of communications as it seemed that Revin and Ana had gotten into an argument with Yorak.

“This is so weird. So… They’re the next generation of Paladins?” Asked Keith as he looked between the five way split screen showing the five new paladins. 

“It would seem so. It’s possible they’re from another reality entirely…” Said Coran with a frown.

“They mentioned Matt, Hunk, and… Pidge? They also have our last names.” Lance pointed out shooting a look to Pidge. Pidge shot a look to Lance.

“This whole thing makes me uncomfortable, personally. I mean, two sets of Lions, two sets of Paladins. If they were from another reality, we would be shoved into theirs. So… Logically that’s not the case. Also, something might have happened to us in the future… I know I can read lips, and I know what Yorak said when he first muted his audio to Ana was “They’re alive.” With that being said… This is going to sound weird, but… These might just be our kids.” Pidge said slowly. 

“That’s disturbing to even think about, Pidge. But you might be right. Which means there’s a possibility that four of us get together. It’s obvious, the yellow Paladin is Hunk’s son, I mean… Balmerian, likes food, yellow paladin. I’m pretty sure he’s wearing an orange headband.” Keith pointed out, rising from his seat pointing to the Balmerian on screen who seemed to be chuckling as Ana and Revin seemed to be yelling at one another.

“The Green Paladin and The Blue Paladin act just like Pidge and Lance, and did Yorak not state that they’re twins… But they’re at least half Altean…” Allura said studying the two as Ana went red in the face, apparently screaming at her brother. 

“Now that you mention it, she does look like a dark haired, Altean version of Pidge. While he looks like a slightly different version of an Altean Lance.” Hunk noted as Ana seemed to throw her hands up in disgust with her twin. Revin on the other hand seemed rather smug. Yorak was shaking his head, leaning back with his hands covering his face. Alister had somehow managed to produce a candybar and was munching happily on it while watching the displays in amusement. Graven on the other hand was quietly glaring at the Paladins with a raised brow. 

“That one I have no clue about. He’s obviously Altean…” Keith trailed off as Pidge gave a snort.

“Matt. That boy is all Matt. He’s a Holt, and he’s got mom’s attitude, definitely Matt. Ewwww, that means Matt married an Altean…” Pidge gave a grimace of fake disgust. Lance cracked a grin before bursting into unattractive snorts of laughter.

“That means you’re the only one who didn’t have kids, Pidge!” Lance chuckled loudly as Allura accidentally restored the Audio. The chatter from the new paladins momentarily died at Lance’s comment. 

“Oh, quiznak, that’s right, we’re thirty years in the past. They have no idea who we even are…” Revin muttered quietly.

“Which also explains why they’re still alive, quiznak, they’re young as hell too…” Said Graven slowly.

“I’m not telling them.” Said Ana. 

“Don’t look at me, I’m not the leader.” Alister grumbled.

Yorak’s response was a loud groan as he slid from his seat, disappearing from view.

“Yo-yo, you gunna be okay, buddy?” Asked Ana in almost a motherly tone.

“No, this is just so messed up…” Came Yorak’s voice, suddenly sounding less like a leader, and more like a child. “Think about it, An, it’s just…”

“A little much? Yeah, I kind of gathered that myself. I mean it’s great, but…” Revin trailed off.

“It’s kind of bittersweet, ain’t it?” Graven finished. 

“**So, are we going to be going aboard, or do you think they don’t trust us?**” Alister asked in Balmerian with an exaggerated shrug, pointing to the display with the Older Paladins on it. Ana frowned.

“_I don’t know, Al, this is just such a weird situation. I mean I can make the suggestion of cuffs? I mean by all rights they’re our parents, shouldn’t they like… Recognize we look like them, at least vaguely?_” Ana spoke softly in Altean, gesturing widely with a skeptic look on her face. 

“**_We’ve given them no reason to trust us other than being in possession of the Lions. Even then, it’s not much to go on. Both my dads said that the war started because of Zarkon. Given the Castle is still intact they may not trust me at all…_**” Yorak spoke up in Galran, his hand raised to point at the display.

“You’re right, we might have landed in the middle of the Galran Space War.” Graven spoke up before he sighed loudly. “Whatever the case is, it’s STILL the ship of Princess Allura. Her decision is final.” Graven stated uncrossing his arms, his hands resting lazily on Red’s controls. 

“Let me get Lance out to help you with the Red Lion, and Pidge to help with the Green Lion. Keith, Hunk, please show the Black, Yellow, and Blue lions to the hangars. Meet back here in one Varga.” Allura said slowly. 

“Princess, if I may… This is very awkward for all of us. If you want to, you can cuff us if you don’t trust us. I know Alteans believe in peace, but, if it would make the Paladins feel more comfortable, we’re no strangers to interrogations. All of us have undergone intense training to become paladins.” Stated Alister. Allura gave a soft smile.

“Thank you, but that won’t be necessary. We’re all extremely excited to meet you all properly.” Allura said as the Paladins had made their way out.

“Umm, Princess?” Asked Ana as soon as she noted that the Paladins were gone and that only Allura and Coran were the ones left. 

“Yes, Ana is it?” Allura asked.

“You… Realize that we’re their children, right? From the future?” Ana asked with a frown. Allura cocked her head to the side with a look of confusion.

“Yes, we gathered that… And that it’s far enough in the future that all of us have unfortunately passed on, am I correct.” Allura asked calmly.

“It’s not just that… But…” Revin paused looking to the communications, obviously eyeing the newer paladins. 

“We can discuss this later, for now, focus on getting back safely.” Allura gave a soft smile. 

“Roger that, Princess. See you, in a bit.” Yorak stated as he resumed his seat.


	5. Tell Us How You Really Feel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The New Paladins let some futuristic spoilers slip. The current Paladins are skeptical. But how did they wind up crossing paths?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *sings* I CAN'T SLEEP!
> 
> I love insomnia after being able to sleep... So here, have a chapter.
> 
> Also, there are pickup lines in this chapter and the next that took me forever to come up with, please use them and tell me peoples reactions, because my nerdy little ass needs to know.

Ana was the first to return to Green’s hangar with Pidge. Both women made their exit from their Lions around the same time, Ana had begun to cough lightly into her shoulder as she took off her helmet, revealing her haircut was very similar to Pidge’s.

“So, you and Revin are twins?” Pidge asked slowly. Ana frowned at the helmet in her hands before she looked up to meet Pidge’s gaze. 

“Yeah. Considering our parents, it’s not so surprising I wound up as the Green Paladin and he wound up as Blue.” Ana paused, “That’s right, you hated papà in the beginning. Though you always thought it was cute when he’d compliment you for your amazing tech. It’s not hard to see where I got it from.” Ana gave a soft laugh. Pidge stared at Ana.

“What?” Pidge asked. Ana gave a smile. 

“My madre was Katie Holt-McClain, former paladin of the Green lion, head of the Galaxy Garrison’s Department of Technological Advancements. In other words, you.” Ana said softly. Pidge gave a soft frown, anyone could tell she was mulling over what Ana was saying.

“So… Lance… and I…” Pidge said slowly. Ana nodded.

“You’re our parents. Well, will be in the future, anyway.” Ana said before she began to cough hard.

“Are you okay? You’ve been coughing quite a bit.” Pidge asked coming over to Ana and gently putting a hand on her shoulder. Ana nodded. 

“I’m fine, this is normal.” Ana gave a half smile, turning her face from Pidge’s to cough hard into her shoulder. 

“ANA!” Shouted a voice before a blur of blue knocked Ana backward a few steps, Revin clinging to his sister. 

“Ow, Rev, stop, that hurts.” Ana grumbled before she pushed him away, coughing lightly. 

“Damn, you’re fast.” Lance panted as he jogged into the hangar. 

“An, are you going to be okay?” Revin asked noting his sister seemed rather pale. 

“Jesus, you worry too much. I’m fine. Besides, all of the Paladins know CPR, so if I stop breathing, you know what to do.” Ana said nonchalantly. 

“That’s not funny. Maybe we should get you into a pod…” Revin said nervously.

“I’ve fought five on one in worse condition, vomiting blood with a blaster wound to the shoulder and side, Rev. Can it before I punch you.” Ana snapped. Revin sighed.

“Man, you two are just like the spitting image of me and Pidge.” Lance muttered as he circled the Twins. Revin and Ana exchanged glances.

“I already said it, I’m not saying it again.” Ana said with a thumbs up to Revin. “I’m out. Later quiznakers~” With that Ana bolted from the hangar. 

“She’ll run into Hunk, Keith, or Shiro, I’m not worried. So, who’s my Mrs. McClain? Do I get any hints?” Lance asked Revin, nudging him in the ribs with an elbow. Revin fought to keep from smiling as he looked at Pidge.

“Um… She’s beautiful, smart, has the mouth of a Balmerian miner… Uhhh… Why don’t you just ask her yourself, she’s standing right there.” Revin mused as he pointed to Pidge. Lance’s jaw fell open as he followed the trajectory of Revin’s gesture to Pidge who had flushed and was refusing to look at Lance. 

“Pidge?! You mean me and PIDGE?!” Lance asked incredulously, his arm falling from Revin’s shoulders. Revin couldn’t help but grin mischievously. 

“Yep, Katie Holt-McClain is our mamà, and to be honest you two are gross in the future.” Revin slid away from Lance, still grinning. “With that, I’m out, later Pala-dudes!” Revin then also dashed from the hangar much like Ana had, only his exit was followed by his own rambunctious laughter. 

“Pidge? Is there something you wanna tell me?” Lance asked quietly. Pidge frowned. 

“Nope, I think you’re annoying and rude. That’s all there is to it. These kids might have me confused with someone else.” Pidge grumbled. With that she made her way from the hangar, Lance close at her heels. They found the others huddled around the newer Paladins in the hall between hangars.

“Wow, you’re really our kids, huh?” Asked Hunk as Alister chuckled. 

“Yep. I think we can all admit that it’s weird seeing our parents, and seeing you guys so young. I mean I think we’re technically all the same ages. The McClain Twins are both sixteen, I’m eighteen, Graven is twenty eight. And uhhh… how old are you again Yorak?” The balmerian looked to the Galra who let his cat like ears flatten in annoyance.

“Twenty one.” Yorak sighed. “Can we save the explanation until we get to the Bridge?” Yorak reached up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “All four of you have given me a migraine today.” The Galra sighed again. “Bridge, now!” Yorak grumbled pointing down the hall. The newest Paladins grumbled under their breath as Shiro herded them in the right direction.

“So, uh… on a scale of one to five, how awkward is it knowing that Lance and Pidge have twins, I have a son, and Keith and Shiro have a son?” Hunk asked.

“Ten.” Said Pidge without hesitation. She then pointed to Lance, “He’s rude, crude, and so flirtatious I could barf. I wouldn’t sleep with him if my life depended on it. Plus he’s got a huge boner for Allura.” Pidge stated with a raised brow. 

“I wouldn’t bank money on it, Pidge. I mean, apparently Shiro and I get together, which was a whole level of shock for me. But you know, I still wouldn’t bank on it.” Keith said awkwardly. Pidge rolled her eyes. 

“That’s disgusting, me and Lance. Excuse me as I go barf.” Pidge grumbled as she walked off in the opposite direction of where the Bridge was located. Hunk shrugged as he looked to Keith and Lance who both looked extremely uncomfortable.

“Well, she took that pretty well…” Hunk chuckled as he directed the others toward the Bridge. Within minutes everyone was present, minus Pidge, on the bridge. Allura looking over the newer Paladins in interest. 

“Three of you are Altean…” Allura looked Revin,Graven, and Ana over with a frown.

“To be fair, we’re half Altean. My mother is Elle, and my father is Matt.” Graven cracked a grin for the first time since meeting the Paladins. 

“What he means is, tìo Matt met and married an Altean named Romelle. Ana and I are Altean on papà’s side. It’s super weird and awkward how it happened. Obviously he wasn’t BORN Altean but rather he got-“ Revin was hushed by Ana’s hand over his mouth. 

“No. No dates, no nothing. All they need to know is our names and that we’re Paladins. We have already told them too much.” Ana said lowering her hand. Revin scowled. 

“Ana is right, I think we all got carried away.” Graven stated with a sigh. 

“You gotta admit, it’s hard to keep quiet when they’re right there.” Alister said motioning to the Paladins. 

“How in the world do you guys even TOLERATE each other? I have a hard enough time with these four.” Yorak grumbled. Shiro gave the young man a grin. “The words: “Patience Yields Focus” comes out of your mouth, Dad, and I will scream. You know how many times a day you said that?” Yorak grumbled. 

“Wait, patience yields focus… Come to think of it, I think I know how we got here.” Ana spoke up before she pulled something out of her right gauntlet. “May I, Princess?” Ana asked. Allura nodded and moved aside. “Papa’s interfaces are so much different…” Ana grumbled as she plugged a small device into a port before she began typing.

“Wait, Ana, that’s footage from Green, yeah?” Alister asked peeking over Ana’s shoulder.

“Al, go get me the feeds from Yellow. You were on the other side along with Yo-yo. Yo, go get feeds from Black. Rev, Ven, I’m sure I don’t need to repeat myself.” Ana scowled up at the screen, “We went to Daibazaal, checking out a rift comet apparently it was the second one to hit Daibazaal in ten… Almost eleven thousand decaphoebs. But there was an explosion. I’m almost certain I know who was behind it even if they weren’t physically there.” Ana paused to reach up and fiddle with a set of dog tags that she wore. “Just as I thought…” Ana muttered as the display played a video with no sound other than the chatter of the Paladins. 

“Green, is there anything alive in there that you know of?” Asked Yorak’s voice. 

“Negative, Black. But there’s a high amount of Quintessence. Be on guard, Paladins.” Ana’s voice said quietly.

“Hey, Green, Black. You guys don’t think that this is a trap, do you?” Asked Revin’s voice. 

“Negative, Blue. Hold on a minute, the Quintessence just spiked rapidly.” Ana sounded in awe. “Paladins, move it!” Ana suddenly shouted as the screen was engulfed in a sparkling white while a loud Boom was heard. Ana frowned, rewinding the recording.

“Green was front and center when the explosion occurred… I must be missing something. Someone HAD to have triggered the Quintessence spike which lead to the explosion. The question is, who? And do they work for? If it’s Lotor, then shit must be getting bad among the Galra. Although he DID go ahead and declare open season on us Paladins a while back saying that we violated the Altean Daibazaal alliance agreement which is bullshit.” Ana muttered as she scanned the explosion, frame by frame, even a short coughing spell didn't deter her search. 

“It’s gotta be. I mean, Honerva was defeated at the end of the war by Allura herself, but it also triggered a shift in reality as we knew it back then. Like Lotor didn’t actually die, and somehow both Daibazaal and Altea were restored.” Yorak frowned, “I got Black’s footage, by the way…” the Galra handed a small chip to Ana who hardly seemed to be paying attention as she reached for the chip.

“You were to my right, yes?” Ana asked. Yorak nodded before he seemed to realize Ana was more focused on the display.

“Yes, far right, what are you looking for?” Yorak asked approaching her and looking up at the display. 

“Someone HAD to have triggered that Quintessence spike. From what Nana taught us about Quintessence, it just doesn’t spike like that unless… Ha! ALCHEMY! Boom! I WIN!” Ana turned to high five Yorak sounding slightly choked as she seemed to be trying to suppress another cough. Yorak sheepishly slapped his hand to hers. 

“So the explosion that sent you back here was triggered by Altean alchemy?” Allura asked. 

“Yep. There’s very super few who know how to use it, in our time. Lotor and his top general are two who I can think of off the top of my head. Ven and I can use it a little bit, but Revin can’t. Perks of being half Altean, I guess. But, if you look at the footage from Black, you can see someone on the far side that triggered the explosion. Possibly someone like a Galran Druid. Thing is, they were supposedly wiped out during the first war.” Ana scowled at the paused footage.

“And how does that mean that you guys got here, that doesn’t make sense.” Lance blurt out before he noticed Ana looked almost exactly like Pidge, thinking hard on something. 

“Contrary to popular belief, Quintessence isn’t just an energy source, it’s by all rights alive. Like a radioactive squirrel, really. It can’t control itself.” Ana stated with a frown before she began to cough hard.

“Ana! Jesus, are you getting sick again?!” Yorak blurt out as Ana tried to turn away, easily dodging Lance as he tried to turn her toward them.

“I’m fine. Don’t touch me!” Ana snapped her head barely turned enough that Lance could see a small smear of blood by the corner of her mouth. 

“Anabelle, don’t you lie to me.” Yorak grabbed Ana by the wrist, with a clever twist he caused her to turn around. Ana had tried to hastily wipe her face when she coughed, but the red stain on her lip and cheek spoke volumes. “God damn it, McClain, I don’t have the luxury of putting you on leave.” Yorak snarled making Ana flinch.

“I’m fine, this isn’t the first or last time. It’s just something I’m allergic to, probably from Daibazaal.” Ana said quickly, almost as if she were afraid of the newer Black Paladin.

“Bullshit, as a team we know all of your allergies.” Yorak snapped before a swift motion put Ana over his shoulder. “Where’s the med bay.” Yorak snapped rather than asked. 

“This way.” Shiro said as he lead Yorak from the room, Ana looking extremely disgruntled hanging down the Galra’s back.

“Well, that was entertaining.” Hunk chuckled trying to fill the awkward silence. 

“She didn’t really seem hurt…” Allura said slowly.

“Hey, where’s Ana?” Asked Graven as he entered the bridge.

“Uhhh… Yorak just threw her over his shoulder then took her to the Med Bay.” Lance supplied with a scowl. To his surprise Graven let out a hefty sigh.

“That girl is going to kill herself one of these days. She’s extremely head strong like Aunt Katie, but she’s also as stubborn as Nana Holt. I don’t know if I should even be the one to tell you about her…” Graven paused as both Alister and Revin returned. 

“Tell who about who?” Asked Revin. Graven frowned at the new blue Paladin. 

“Ana. Obviously they can tell there’s something off. But I think you should explain… She is your sister after all.” Graven said slowly. Revin hesitated as if he noticed Ana wasn’t on the Bridge. 

“Where is she? Dios mío, did she actually stop breathing or something?” Revin looked slightly panicked.

“No! No! It’s nothing like that. She just coughed really hard in the middle of talking, Yorak got pissed, threw Ana over his shoulder, and Shiro showed them to the Med bay. That’s all.” Keith said quickly. Revin scowled at the floor.

“I shouldn't tell you, but if we have to work together, then it's imperative that you know. All of us are physically in perfect health, except Ana. Mamà didn't tell papà that she was pregnant for quite some time, of course papà is so damn oblivious it's pathetic. He found out when she had been hospitalized after a mission critically failed.” Revin paused, “Mamà, being stubborn, told papà to keep it a secret. Of course, papà immediately went to tìo Hunk and cried like a bitch. Any way, we found out from papà, that mamà had been exposed to some kind of energy… Not exactly quintessence, but very similar. That energy caused problems with mamà being pregnant. She was literally forced on leave by nearly the entire Garrison and Paladins.” Revin paused for a moment, scratching at the back of his neck. “When we were born, that's when everyone realized that there was something wrong with Ana. Her immune system is absolute shit and her lungs don't function right. She gets sick super easy, and a simple virus or whatever could actually kill her.” Graven sighed seeming to take pity on his cousin.

“When the Green Lion started to interact with Ana, Aunt Katie lost her shit. She actually tried pleading with Green to choose a different paladin. Obviously, Ana became the Green Paladin anyway, much to Aunt Katie's horror and pride. We kind of all expected Ana to become the Green Paladin, but we didn't really expect Revin to become the Blue Paladin. Blue didn't start interacting with him until he was like Ten, where as Ana has been interacting with Green since she was like three.” Graven gave a shrug, “Uncle Lance was pretty damn proud of him, for some weird reason.” Graven gave a chuckle.

“If you're all actual Paladins, then you know the Lions all have personalities. Black is level headed and analytical. Red is impulsive and hotheaded. Green is inquisitive and bold. Blue is fun loving but adaptable. Yellow is extremely laidback but determined.” Came the voice of Pidge as she entered the Bridge wearing her green, white, black, and orange sweater, grey shorts, and orange sneakers. She reached up to push her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “Shiro is a natural leader, which is why Black chose him first. Keith is a hotheaded asshole, that’s why Red chose him at first. Green chose me for my intellect and bravery, not to sound conceited or anything. Blue chose Lance first because of his loyal and trustworthy nature. And Yellow picked Hunk because of his resilience and versatility. Out of all the lions, Green and Blue are the most adaptable to their surroundings, Red in a very close second.” Pidge shrugged.

“Duh, we've been Paladins for what… Two years now? Well Ana and Revin were sworn in sooner than the rest of us, both of them have four years under their belts…” Alister said nonchalantly before he seemed to realize that Graven and Revin were starting at him making cutting motions across their necks. “Oops.” The Balmerian said slowly. 

“We've been interacting with the Lions for longer than that, Al. I mean I bonded with Red when I was six. Ana bonded with Green at three, Al was seven when he bonded with Yellow, Revin was ten when he bonded with Blue, and Yorak was… Nine? When he bonded with Black?” Graven asked shooting a look to Alister. 

“Sounds about right. Point is, Ana is probably the most in tune with her Lion due to the age she started bonding with Green, if something was gravely wrong with Ana, Green would tell us. She's not exactly a bitch. Unlike a certain Red Lion we know.” Alister shot a look to Graven who rolled his eyes. 

“Red is just picky. And for your information, Red knows my business is my business, I am a strong independent Holt who can take care of himself. I have big boy panties, and I wear them.” Graven grinned, making even Keith snicker. “So, how much did you hear?” Graven asked looking over his shoulder at Pidge. Pidge gave a noncommittal shrug.

“Something about your Aunt having a shit fest over Ana being the Green paladin. And of course that you all have been around the Lions your whole lives.” Pidge then noted the paused footage on the main screen. “So what's this all about?” Pidge asked. Alister, Graven, and Revin all shrugged. 

“Oh, it's Ana’s theory on how they went back in time. Sort of. She never finished explaining as Yorak got mad, slung her over his shoulder like she was a doll, then took off with Shiro to the med bay.” Supplied Lance. 

“To be fair, Ana probably weighs the least. I mean she IS the smallest. She gets it from Aunt Katie, actually.” Graven snickered almost immaturely. Pidge opened her mouth to say something but immediately closed it, glaring at the boys. “Point is, Ana is nearly always sick, in some way or form. Whether it's something she's allergic to or some kind of actual illness. I swear there's not a single day that goes by where she isn't coughing, sneezing, or whatever. One time she actually puked in a commander’s face mid fight. It was probably her grossest victory to date, as well at least the most hilarious, really.” Graven mused.

“As fun as it is to chatter about Ana, what’s her theory?” Asked Alister.

“Something about Altean Alchemy triggering the explosion on uhhhh, Daibazaal?” Hunk asked.

“Yes, she was explaining about how Quintessence is actually alive, and that was as far as she got.” Allura stated as both Revin and Graven gave a unified: “Ohhhhh…” 

“Altean Alchemy is extremely unstable in our time, there’s hardly anyone who knows how to use it. Ana and I can kind of use it, but not in the scale of being able to trigger a Quintessence spike that high. I mean Revin might be able to manipulate small amounts of Quintessence, but he wouldn’t be able to make it spike either. If it was triggered with Altean Alchemy, Space Voodoo, as Nana Holt calls it, then it was done with the intent of killing us. Problem is, the only one skilled enough for a spike of that calibur that we know of is Lotor.” Graven said with a frown.

“Yeah, but, you know… He wouldn’t outright defy the coalition, would he?” Alister asked with a frown.

“I wouldn’t put it past him not to. I mean it was just five months ago that he pretty much lost his shit and tried to have all of us arrested. Lucky for us, Ana knows intergalactic policies like nobodies business.” Revin frowned. “It’s not Empress Honerva, that’s a fact. But it’s someone who has the ability on par with a Galran Druid. Yorak is only three quarters Galran, and has shown no signs of being able to use Druidry or whatever it’s called. It’s safe to say that none of us caused it, but it’s obviously a full blooded Altean working for Lotor.” Revin gave a sigh. “Maldita sea, my sister is a genius.” Revin smirked before he went to the interface with the paused recording from Black. He tapped on the interface for a moment before the image enlarged and zoomed into a small blurr that once zoomed in on, formed the shape of a person. Alister was the first one to gasp out loud.

“No… She’s dead, isn’t she?” Alister asked joining Revin. Revin shook his head. 

“Apparently not. Quiznaking hell, and we have ZERO ways of telling the Garrison or the Coalition. Quiznak.” Revin snapped bringing his hands down to smack the interface in frustration.

“Who is it?” Allura asked. Revin hesitated looking to Graven who looked possibly the most shocked of all. 

Meanwhile in the med bay, Ana was sleeping soundly in a healing pod as Yorak tapped on the pod’s settings. Shiro was watching him closely.

“So, Keith and I… are your parents?” Shiro asked. Yorak sighed. 

“Yes and no. I was the product of a one night stand that your husband had before you two got together. My birth mother was Galran, while Keith is obviously half Galran half human. I was four when you two got married. My birth mother wanted nothing to do with me, and left soon after I was born, leaving dad to try to figure out how to raise a child alone. Luckily he had you and Papa Kolivan to help. Do you even know how confusing it is to have two dads?” Yorak shot Shiro a grin, making Shiro blush. 

“So, I adopted you, but you’re biologically Keith’s son?” Shiro asked. Yorak nodded with a smile. 

“Yep. You were so proud of me when I formed a bond with Black. At first none of us thought we were going to be the next Paladins, until Green started bonding with Ana. Aunt Katie about near lost her damn marbles. If you can’t tell, Ana isn’t really in the best shape. A birth defect left her with a damaged immune system and a weak set of lungs. A simple case of bronchitis can turn into pneumonia at the drop of a hat. Aunt Katie was always super protective of Ana because of it. Green won her preferred Paladin in the end, much to Aunt Katie’s horror and delight.” Yorak frowned. “Sometimes, I think Green chose wrong.” Yorak said quietly.

“Because of her health?” Shiro asked. Yorak nodded.

“All of us have an assigned role besides being Paladins. Ana is our tech specialist, Revin is our sniper, Graven is our assassin, Alister is our Mechanic, And then there’s me, the team leader and tactical advisor. You taught me everything I know about being a leader. We function best as a unit. In a pinch, Revin is well enough versed in tech that he can take on the tech specialist role if needed. Ana is also well versed in sniping as well. Considering the Holt-McClain family as a unit, they combined the Brains of the Holts with the Precision of the McClain. The twins are deadly one on one, put them together and they’re practically unstoppable. Ana’s health is their only real weakness.” Yorak explained.

“I see. What are Lance and Pidge like in the future? I’m just morbidly curious.” Shiro asked. Yorak gave a slight chuckle.

“Aunt Katie was still smart as a whip, Uncle Lance was still an oblivious moron. But, they made an adorable couple. Their flirt to roast ratio was super on point. It took them five years after the war ended to admit that they cared about one another, according to Uncle Lance anyway. It took them another six years to actually get married. Sadly, Aunt Katie and Uncle Lance tried for three years to have kids, Aunt Katie had just about given up when she found out she was pregnant with Revin and Ana. Long boring story short there were several complications in which the Garrison and the Paladins forced her to go on leave. Once the twins were born, you probably never saw a happier family. Aunt Katie was like Nana Holt, strict but loving, Uncle Lance was the opposite super chill and fun, but just as equally loving. Believe it or not, Ana was a huge Daddy’s girl and Revin was a big Momma’s boy. I think Uncle Lance’s death hit her harder than anyone else.” Yorak paused.

“You don’t have to tell me anything else. I was just curious.” Shiro said softly.

“No, because as someone who has seen as much carnage as you have, you know more about what she’s going through psychologically.” Shiro flinched. “The twins were twelve when Uncle Lance and Aunt Katie were killed. They were out with the twins, Revin had wandered off to play while Ana wrestled with Uncle Lance. It was supposed to be a family picnic for just the four of them. The sniper wasn’t aiming for Ana, he was aiming for Aunt Katie. The first bullet hit Aunt Katie in the chest. Uncle Lance immediately shoved Ana to the ground as the second shot took Uncle Lance’s life instantly. Why the sniper didn’t try to kill the Twins was beyond me, but Aunt Katie spent a week in the hospital before succumbing to her injury. Ana wasn’t the same. The twins used to be nearly identical in personalities, both favoring outgoing and bubbly like Uncle Lance. Once they were gone, Ana started acting like Aunt Katie, stern, sarcastic, and… Well.. kind of a bitch, really. Ana and Rev were forced to be sworn in as Paladins, much to everyone’s anger. They were kids, like, honest to god, kids. Alister was second youngest to be sworn in at sixteen, but Rev and Ana were sworn in literally the day after Aunt Katie passed. They were only twelve. The rest of us were adults.” Yorak finished. 

“If three of you have been Paladins for two years…” Shiro trailed off.

“Anabelle and Revin have fought alongside Dad, Uncle Hunk, and you.” Yorak finally turned from the pod containing Ana. “I have to admit, I am kind of jealous. Revin gushed about the three of you, a lot, after missions. Apparently you guys used to call Ana by Aunt Katie’s nickname of Pidge, we kind of assumed it was habit, especially since you also accidentally used to call Revin by Lance. Revin wasn’t too mad over it, but it made Ana angry plenty of times where she actually apparently hit Uncle Hunk with her helmet once.” Yorak leaned to the side as he noticed that Pidge had entered the med bay, adjusting her glasses nervously. 

“How’s Ana?” Pidge asked softly. Yorak frowned. 

“She’ll be fine. It’s obvious she’s been ill for a few days now, but as usual she’s got the Holt stubbornness.” Yorak grinned at Pidge, “I still can’t get over how much Ana looks like you… You look so much different in the future… And Uncle Lance isn’t constantly at your side either…” Yorak said softly making Pidge scowl.

“Give it a rest, there’s no way in hell that I would ever marry Lance.” Pidge rolled her eyes. Yorak rolled his eyes over in Shiro’s direction. “So, the others kind of clammed up when I asked why Ana had to be hauled over your shoulder to the med bay. What’s wrong with her?” Pidge asked. Yorak gave a hum of interest. 

“Long boring story short: Ana gets sick frequently. Really, that’s Ana and Revin’s only weakness as a Team as I was telling Dad. The twins are extremely well versed in the other’s role on the team. They’ve covered each other’s backs for as long as we can remember when we were first starting training. Ana had a one up on Lion Bonding training. She and Green bonded when she was three. You lost your everloving mind when you found out. Do I have to keep repeating myself?” Yorak sighed before he looked over his shoulder at Ana’s sleeping form, a steady beep told him her vitals were looking good. “You know, it’s strange. I always thought I wanted to protect her as the leader of Team Voltron, but there are times where it becomes almost irrational. With her extreme determination and lack of self preservation, I sometimes feel like I fail. I could swear she’s the glue that holds Team Voltron together. She keeps Revin and Graven in line, she gives Alister confidence to do what he does best, and she’s talked me up several times when I felt like I was falling short in my role as leader.” Pidge gave a frown as she went to the pod and looked Ana over.

“So, this really isn’t a joke… You guys… Are really from the future? And it’s… Real?” Pidge asked with a frown at Ana’s unconscious form. 

“Yes, as awkward as it is. I know it’s rather hard to believe.” Yorak said slowly. Pidge turned to Yorak, frowning slightly. “Believe it or not, it’s actually just as big of a shock for us as it is for you. In our future, you’re all dead. I hate to say it that way, but the truth hurts. Every time one of you passed on, one of us had to step in as Paladin.” Yorak paused. “Uncle Lance was the first and Uncle Hunk was the last.” Yorak’s statement caused Pidge’s mouth to fall open. “Before you ask, I’ve already said far too much.” Yorak said softly, his ears folding back along his head.

“May I at least know how… How Lance and I even get together?” Pidge asked. Yorak chuckled, his ears perking up.

“Ohhh, I think you should ask Revin. He’s a momma’s boy after all, just like Ana is a Daddy’s girl.” Yorak grinned, Pidge didn’t have the time to blush as an alarm behind her began to beep incessantly. 

“Ana!” Pidge gasped loudly as she turned to see a red warning flashing in Altean on the pod. Pidge immediately went to the pod and began to tap the interface. “Her heart rate just dropped and her oxygen levels have also dropped dramatically.” Pidge then smacked the Pod with a growl. “It won’t open.” Pidge snapped. Yorak was soon beside her, the same warning that flashed for Pidge of a lock error flashed for Yorak. 

“Paladins, code Green, med bay.” Yorak snapped while activating a communicator in his ear. “Damn it. If anything happens to her, Revin will lose his shit.” Yorak frantically pulled up the interface as the rest of the paladins and Allura came racing in. As predicted, Revin was at the front of the pack. He practically slid clumsily along the floor as he pushed both Pidge and Yorak out of the way. 

“No. No. No. No. No. You can’t do this to me.” Revin seemed to be searching for something on the interface before the barrier dissolved and Ana fell forward into Revin’s arms. “Red, Defibrillator, NOW!” Revin barked as he seemed to be feeling along Ana’s neck for a pulse, lowering his sister to the floor. “Come on, Anabelle, don’t do this, not now.” Revin gasped as he ripped open the top of her jumpsuit. “Black, what the fuck happened?!” Revin jerked the pads to the defibrillator from Graven before he pressed the pads into Ana’s chest, causing her body to convulse as the current ran through her.

“She was fine, then all of a sudden her vitals just dropped. I don’t know why.” Yorak said as Revin cursed loudly. 

“Come on, Anabelle, come on!” Revin growled as another shock brought a loud gasp from the youngest paladin. Slowly Ana’s eyes opened, her expression dazed as she looked up at Revin. Without warning Revin brought his hand to the side of her face, effectively slapping her. 

“Rev… What happened…” Ana asked thickly as she registered her brother towering over her. 

“If you ever. Ever! Do that again, I will never forgive you.” Revin said helping Ana sit up before he embraced her. “Your heart stopped and you stopped breathing… I know you’re stubborn, but damn it, I can’t lose my little sister too. You’ve got to stop this. You’re the green paladin for a reason Ana. You’re inquisitive, bold, intelligent, and daring. Voltron is nothing without you. Just. Don’t do that again.” Revin began to sob as Ana slowly gave a grin reaching up to ruffle Revin’s hair. 

“You act like I planned to shut down. Jesus, you’re such a wuss. Stop squeezing, that hurts.” Ana gave a light giggle. “Come on Rev, get off me. I get it, I scared you.” Ana seemed to be struggling from detangling herself from her brother. 

“Rev, get ahold of yourself.” Graven said gently as he pried Revin away from Ana. “It’s okay, Ana’s going to be fine.” Graven was surprisingly gentle with Revin. Ana gave a deep giggle. 

“That makes three heart attacks since I became a paladin, Ven.” Ana said with a smile as Alister stepped forward to help Ana to her feet. “You guys have got to stop shoving me in those damn healing pods.” Ana grinned at Alister who groaned.

“Like Pop-pop, you just don’t quit, do you?” Graven chuckled making Ana shrug.

“When you’ve got the legendary Samuel Holt for a grandfather and Colleen Holt for a grandmother, you’re pretty much indestructible.” Ana shot finger guns at Revin who wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand. 

“That’s not funny, Ana. You have a bad sense of humor like mamà.” Revin gave a weak grin. 

“What exactly happened? Revin was explaining a theory he had, and all of a sudden all of you came dashing in here.” Allura said with a sigh. Graven gave the Altean woman a half worried smile.

“We had a Code Green. We devised a system back when we were still Paladins in Training. One through Five: one being minor, and five meaning deadly, no number indicates that the team member in question is incapacitated. So if I said we had a Code Blue-5, it would mean Revin was severely injured and immediate backup was needed. If I stated Code Yellow-1 it would mean Alister needs back up, but he’s not in a life or death situation. We got it from Pop-pop Coran. Like you guys, he kind of labeled us one through five. When Yorak stated simply Code Green in our communicators, we immediately knew Ana was in trouble.” Graven explained indicating a small ear piece that he wore. 

“That’s actually pretty clever.” Shiro said with a soft grin. 

“Thanks, Alister was the one who came up with it since Pop-pop Coran kept calling us numbers instead of giving us proper nicknames like the Altean ass he is.” Yorak sighed, “How are you feeling, Ana?” He asked going to Ana and looking her over. Ana was dwarfed by the taller Galra Paladin as she gently put a hand to her chest. 

“Better, lots better. In fact, I don’t feel like I’ve been hit by a train. Papà once said that when he came to after being in a healing pod he felt like absolute death. I kind of have to agree, normally I wish I HAD been hit by a train. Coated in xanthorium. In the middle of a volcano.” Ana cocked her head to the side, her hand resting on the very center of her chest. “How long was I in there? I can breathe… Like, without feeling like I’m gasping for air.” Ana looked up at Yorak.

“A half Varga, maybe a little more?” Shiro supplied as he approached. “And what do you mean you can breathe?” Shiro asked. Ana looked over to Shiro with a frown. 

“You don’t need to know.” Ana said coldly.

“Ana, we kind of already know about your health.” Hunk said slowly. Ana turned to shoot a glare at Hunk.

“And I suppose these idiots told you everything. Always willing to blather on and on about something that isn’t anyone’s business. Move it.” Ana snapped as she literally pushed past Lance. 

“Now wait a minute! We were worried about you!” Lance snapped in return, grabbing her by the wrist. “You’re not leaving this room until we know that you’re not going to keel over on us, young lady.” Lance immediately regretted his choice of words as he noted that Ana’s expression went from mildly irritated to a shocked sense of hurt. “I’m sorry… I shouldn’t yell at you…” Lance immediately let go of Ana’s arm which she jerked away from him as if she had been burned. She slowly backed out of the room, her eyes never leaving Lance’s until the infirmary door closed in front of her. 

“Lance, you okay?” Asked Keith. Lance frowned and shrugged off Keith’s hand on his shoulder.

“Ana was closer to papà than to mamà, probably because she and mamà were so similar they annoyed each other. Kind of like how I was closer to mamà than papà, I mean papà is cool and all, but I’d rather listen to mamà talk about tech than papà talk about guns. Ana was no doubt shocked to hear you say that again.” Revin hesitated as Lance shot him a look of curiosity.

“Revin, don’t. You shouldn’t tell them…” Alister said weakly, noting that Revin seemed a bit lost.

“Why not? I don’t care if this is the past, maybe we can rewrite the future, maybe it will save my little sister’s sanity.” Revin looked up to meet Lance’s gaze. 

“Fine, you explain, we all explain. We were all present when our parents were killed.” Alister spoke up.

“As the original paladins, Aunt Katie, Uncle Lance, Uncle Hunk, Uncle Shiro, and Uncle Keith were the ones we found out had been targeted first. You were all assassinated in a specific order, Ana hacked the Garrison so she knows why, but she refused to tell us anything other than that.” Graven spoke up, “This is so fucked up that we’re even telling you this.”

“Uncle Matt was assassinated shortly before Uncle Hunk.” Yorak supplied. 

“Uncle Lance was the first, followed a week later by Aunt Katie. That was four years ago, causing the twins to be sworn in as Paladins. Uncle Keith was third almost a full year later, six months later Uncle Shiro.” Alister looked extremely uncomfortable, looking everywhere but the paladins.

“Two years ago, tìo Matt and tìa Elle. Then a month later tìo Hunk and tìa Shay. Every time a Paladin fell, one of us was sworn in. Ana and I were the youngest paladins at only twelve. Alister second youngest at sixteen. Yorak was third oldest at nineteen, and Graven was the oldest at twenty six.” Revin licked at his lower lip in thought, “Ana and I were sworn in the day after mamà died, but we weren’t presented our Bayards until the day of your funeral. The others had at least a week before they were sworn in. We understood the importance of becoming Paladins, even tìo Shiro was outraged when the Garrison made it public that the Lions had chosen new paladins.” Revin said carefully. Alister went up to Revin and caught him in a side hug.

“We’ve all undergone training at the hands of pop-pop Coran, being a paladin wasn’t half as bad as his training. We all knew when our Lions started bonding with us that we had to become Paladins. So it’s not like An and Rev were unprepared or anything.” Alister said quickly. Lance frowned.

“I should apologize. It wasn’t right for me to snap at her like that…” Lance said quietly. Revin suddenly started laughing making everyone stare at him.

“Revin, your laughter is hardly appropriate.” Allura said with a scowl. Revin’s laughter only intensified. 

“I know it’s not, but dios mio. You know how many times you said that very line to Ana, only to have her stomp off madder than a zaiforge cannon ready to fire? You used to tell mamà, constantly, that she was too much Holt and not enough McClain. You always apologized to Ana, but she always said the same thing, that if she were you or mamà, she would have said the same thing. It’s an argument I honestly never thought I would ever hear again.” Revin gave a pained grin at Lance. “If anything, she needs you, papà. I promise, she more than likely isn’t even mad.” Revin gave a sheepish look. Lance hesitated. 

“Knowing Ana she talks to Green a lot. In our time, she spends most of her free time strengthening her bond with Green. She’s probably in the Green hangar, with her Green.” Graven piped up. “To be honest, I think those of us who have parents present should… you know… have a bonding moment?” Graven shot a wink to Keith who rolled his eyes. 

“You’re terrible. I like that.” Snickered Keith. Graven gave a smirk.

“We really shouldn’t, Ven…” Yorak said quietly. 

“Oh, lighten up. What’s the worst that could happen? Tìo Hunk betraying Voltron for one of mamà’s pizzas?” Revin ribbed as he ground his elbow into Yorak’s side, a grin on his face as if he were proud of his own joke. Yorak sighed. 

“Fine, only because you probably won’t stop pestering me until I agree anyway…” Yorak grumbled, his ears perking up which defeated his faked dejected tone. The boys cheered as Alister grabbed Hunk and dragged him off, Yorak went straight to Shiro and Keith, Graven grinned as he steered Allura out of the med bay, and Lance awkwardly stared at Revin and Pidge. 

“Go talk to Ana, Lance. I got your little lover boy.” Pidge grinned at Revin who merely grinned back.

“Pidge, are you sure? I mean… You’re a girl, you might be able to talk to her better than I can…” Revin burst into laughter once again at Lance’s discomfort. Even Pidge couldn’t help chuckling softly.

“The mighty Lover Boy Lance, is afraid to talk to his daughter from the future.” Pidge snickered with a coy look at Lance. 

“I am not!” Lance scowled as he crossed his arms, “It’s just weird, like what do I even SAY!” Lance asked incredulously, Revin couldn’t control himself and grabbed Pidge in a hug, barely able to contain his loud obnoxious laughter by burying his face in her shoulder. Pidge merely reached up to pet his hair which was just a touch darker than her own. “Stop that! It’s not funny.” Lance snapped.

“So. So. So, you wanna know how papà asked you to marry him?” Revin asked Pidge as he pulled away, his face scarlet from laughing. “He was drunk, he came home and asked you if you had a bayard in your pocket or if you wanted to form Voltron. You stared at him for apparently quite some time before announcing that he was crazy.” Revin began to almost choke on his laughter before he pointed aloofly to Lance, “Papà, being papà, pulled you in for a kiss and gave you your ring. You say it was hardly romantic, Ana and I both think it was funny as hell.” Revin hooted. Pidge shot a glare at Lance. 

“I said WHAT?!” Lance asked in horror.

“I don’t think he stuttered, Lance.” Pidge then grinned evilly, obviously enjoying the horrified look of shock on Lance’s face.

“I would never say that, even to you!” Lance grumbled loudly. Pidge smirked.

“Anyway, teasing aside, go find Ana, and unlike Keith’s bonding moment, try to remember it.” Pidge winked at Lance who turned red, turned on his heel and stomped off, grumbling in Spanish under his breath. Revin managed to stop laughing as he grinned at Pidge.

“You know, it’s been years since we were able to give papà a run for his money.” He gave a smile as Pidge looked him over, “You and I were always giving papà and Ana hell. Just like pop-pop and tìo Matt. Dios, I’ve missed you, mamà.” Revin then embraced Pidge properly. Pidge had to stand on tiptoe to hug him back.

“You’re so tall, you must get it from Lance.” Pidge said softly. “I can’t believe it, you’re really my son?” Pidge asked quietly as Revin pulled away.

“Yeah, you’re not much taller in the future. Ana is probably the same height as you. People honestly think I’m older and Ana’s younger because there’s almost a full foot difference in our heights. But I promise, we’re twins.” Revin chuckled. “By the way, I want to show you something, it’s something that Ana personally modded into Blue for me.”


	6. Bonding Moments and Theories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins have... A Bonding Moment and Theories are hatched. ("Why is she so ugly?")
> 
> Alister reveals a bit more to Hunk than he probably should.
> 
> Ana and Yorak nearly make the older paladins choke... Several times.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, yes, that was a bonding moment joke. Hush, it's funny. 
> 
> Have some parental Pala-bonding, because y'all need some god damn fluffy bullshit. 
> 
> Please use Ana/Yorak's pickup lines... I worked hard on my Voltron puns for this...
> 
> The Shiro/Keith verbal dad high-five is dedicated to the lovely @ParanormallyN for reasons *blows kisses*

Meanwhile Lance stuck his head into the Green Lion’s hangar, trying to be as subtle about it as possible. That’s when a soft voice caught his attention. He followed it to the Green Lion that was lazily stretched out on the far side of the hangar. Ana was leaning against Green’s underbelly while a loud mechanical purr was heard. Ana was speaking softly in Altean to the Gigantic Lion Robot as she fiddled with the dogtags she was wearing. Her armor was still missing and her jumpsuit was still torn enough that Lance could awkwardly make out that she was wearing a green sports bra underneath it. Suddenly, Ana sighed loudly and shuffled to her feet. It seemed she didn’t notice Lance as she spoke again, this time in English.

“It’s not like we can take them back to the future, Green.” A soft mechanical growl seemed to question her statement. “Because the past needs them more than us. It would be nice. Be a happy family again. Eating tìo Hunk’s garlic knots with papà, laughing and not having to worry about Paladin duties. I know mamà was fifteen when she became your Paladin, Green, but I wish I had been allowed the luxury of having some kind of interaction with someone my age who wasn’t a cadet or my brother.” A low growl of inquiry came from Green, making Ana laugh softly. “Oh, Green, you have your head in the clouds. I love you.” She turned to place her hand on Green’s underbelly, causing the gigantic lion robot to practically roll over like a dog. “Who’s a good Lion robot? Green is a good lion robot! Green is a good girl, aren’t you, my intelligent- PAPÀ!” Ana flushed as she noted Lance was watching her curiously. Green gave a warning growl at Lance. “Hey, that’s my papà, Green. Calm down.” Ana chided as the lion robot rolled over and sat on her haunches, yellow eyes staring down at Lance as if daring him to come closer. 

“I… uh… I…” Lance stuttered before Ana stepped forward. 

“You came to apologize for snapping at me, right?” Ana asked softly. Lance shuffled nervously as he gave her a look. The longer he studied her the more he noticed that although she looked a lot like Pidge, she had touches to her features that were undeniably parts of Lance. “It’s kind of your thing, you’re so kind hearted, even as a father…” Ana said softly as she timidly approached Lance. 

“I guess you really are from the future…” Lance said quietly as if he were afraid to speak too loudly. Ana gave a small grin that Lance noted was quite similar to his own. 

“Yeah.” Ana said simply.

“Look, I really am sorry for snapping at you. I don’t even know why I did, really. I mean if you and Revin are Pidge’s age, then I’m not much older and well if you’re smart like Pidge, I can’t exactly tell you what to do…” Lance trailed off before Ana came up to him and gently hugged him. Lance looked down to Ana before he realized that she was silently crying into his shirt. “Ana?” He questioned as he gently hugged her back. 

“I can’t believe it’s you. These last four years. I’ve missed you, so much…” Ana sobbed without looking up. 

“Hey, don’t fall to pieces on me.” Lance chuckled as he tightened the embrace. “To think I have a daughter like you in the future. Smart, beautiful, and probably just as kick ass as your mother. But that beauty comes from me, you know that, right?” Lance chuckled making Ana pull back so that she could smile at Lance.

“Hey, can I show you something? It’s kind of embarrassing, but, it reminds me of you…” Ana giggled motioning to Green.

Meanwhile, Hunk allowed his head to fall back as rambunctious laughter filled the air of Yellow’s hangar. 

“And then! Just when Uncle Lance thought it was safe, he let another one rip! You lost your mind and chased him out of the kitchen with a cleaver!” Alister barely managed to be coherent in his own laughter. “Uncle Lance was never allowed near you while cooking again!” Alister hooted.

“What about Shiro? I’m sure you have some fun stories about him?” Hunk questioned shooting a look to his half Balmerian son. Alister chuckled loudly. 

“So, this one time. You and Uncle Shiro came back from a mission. You were both tired, angry, and grouchy out of your minds. You both went to the kitchen to get coffee and hot chocolate. I’ll give you three guesses for who wanted what. Any way, you wound up with black coffee and uncle Shiro wound up with your hot chocolate. You would have thought you were dying the way Uncle Shiro was screaming when you took a huge drink and spewed hot coffee everywhere! I was only two at the time, and momma thought it was so damn funny she actually started crying.” Alister hooted. Hunk grinned.

“Really? That sounds like something that’s already happened… Coran found some stuff that’s the equivalent of Altean coffee.” Hunk grinned as Alister chuckled loudly.

“I know what you’re talking about! Aunt Katie drank that stuff with Uncle Lance and Uncle Shiro. Although Uncle Keith and Momma were both tea drinkers.” Alister grinned.

“So you already know this story?” Hunk asked. Alister shook his head.

“Nope, go on! I wanna hear it!”

Meanwhile Allura and Graven made their way to the Bridge. 

“Are you sure that it’s wise for them to be interacting?” Allura asked. Graven gave an aloof shrug.

“Not really. But, they have all been lonely for years. All of us were super close to our parents, in some way or form. Aunt Katie taught the twins how to use tech and how to hack, Uncle Lance taught the twins how to shoot like nobody's business. Uncle Hunk taught Al how to cook like a god. Uncle Keith and Uncle Shiro taught Yorak how to fight and how to be a leader. In a way I think I was more prepared for my father’s assassination than the others were. I’ve been working with the rebels since I was little. I mean dad was a rebel leader. I was super close with him, but I knew the risks, probably better than anyone. I was born only two years after the war ended.” Graven hesitated. 

“The five of you don’t mention me, if at all…” Allura cocked her head to the side as if to inquire why.

“Oh, um… We, the recent Paladins, didn’t have the pleasure of meeting you until now. You died before any of us were born.” Graven said slowly. “To be precise, you died to win the war, in our time there’s a statute with an engraving depicting that your sacrifice won the war and saved thousands of lives. I was born on the day the Paladins celebrated the war ending, which is why dad saw it fit to name me Graven Alfor Holt.” Graven gave Allura a rather uncomfortable look. 

“Oh…” Allura said simply.

Meanwhile, Keith grinned as Yorak shook his head.

“No, I don’t show my human form to anyone, not even the other Paladins have seen it.” Yorak scowled, his ears flattening backward. 

“Oh, you mean even Ana hasn’t seen it?” Shiro gave a grin which caused Keith to give a snort. To their surprise Yorak’s ears twitched at the name of the youngest of the Paladins. 

“What does she have to do with anything, and no, she hasn’t. Like I said they don’t even know I have a human form.” Yorak said defensively. Keith grinned.

“I think someone has a crush.” Keith said simply.

“Me too.” Shiro chuckled. Yorak gave a rather loud growl in a Galran equivalent of a huff of annoyance. 

“What are you talking about? And what does Ana have to do with anything?” Yorak sounded far less annoyed when saying Ana’s name. Shiro gave a loud snort of amusement. 

“Yorak, you think your dads can’t tell, you’re head over heels for that girl. Why not show her that her fluffy Galra boy has a human side.” Keith grinned. “I scared the crap out of the team when they found out I have a Galra form.” Keith shrugged. Yorak scowled but his ears perked up at the suggestion. 

“I never thought about it like that. You favor your human form, just as I favor my Galran form. I just don’t think it’s anyone’s business.” Yorak grunted. Keith frowned as Yorak crossed his arms over his chest.

Several Varga later, the Paladins were all crowded on the bridge of the Castle of Lions. Ana sat on the floor beside Pidge, Revin and Lance sat side by side in the blue Paladin seat seemingly trying to shove one another off with matching grins and laughter, Graven leaned over the back of Keith’s seat with a bored look, Alister sat in Hunk’s seat with Hunk grinning at the Balmerian over the boy’s shoulder, Yorak gave a frown as he sat on Shiro’s left armrest, scowling up at the screen in front of them.

“Paladins, attention.” Yorak called out causing the new Paladins to immediately look up. “Blue had a theory on the user of the Alchemy that triggered the explosion. The problem is, in our time they’re supposed to be dead. Green, the footage from Black, please.” Yorak stated with a sigh.

“Yes, sir.” Was Ana’s simple response as she literally sat in Pidge’s lap to pull up the footage requested. 

“Cross referencing the footage from Black and the footage from Yellow, we have a profile, but not exactly much to go on. Yellow, bring up the facial recognition-wait, sorry, this isn’t the ATLAS… Green, any ideas?” Yorak asked looking over his shoulder at Ana. Ana scowled as Pidge pushed Ana out of her lap. 

“From what I can do… clean this up… sharpen that… contrast a bit here…” Ana trailed off as she began typing. With each keystroke the image became clearer and clearer until a face grinned down at them. Graven let out a low whistle of surprise. 

“Called it. But she’s dead. I mean we all have seen her execution tape at one point or another.” Revin pointed out as he noted the person was female.

“You have a point, Blue, but at this point it wouldn’t surprise me if her execution was staged.” Alister pipped up.

“Who is that? And why is she so ugly?” Keith asked suddenly. The newer Paladins burst into laughter. 

“He’s got a point, guys.” Alister snickered. Ana cleared her throat, failing to hide her own amusement at Keith’s response.

“You wouldn’t know this person, as she supposedly died shortly before the Ten Thousand Year War, also known as the Galran War, began. It was later revealed that this Altean alchemist and famed researcher never died, she merely assumed an identity after being corrupted by a form of… Darker Quintessence, much like Lotor revealed had happened to Zarkon and Honerva, that destroyed the original planet of Daibazaal. For the record, Daibazaal exploded, Alfor did jack squat to it just for future reference.” Ana frowned at the image. “She isn’t Honerva, so you can set your mind at ease about that, Princess. She was literally a cornerstone and a rather talented Altean Alchemist on par with the legendary King Alfor. Allura might remember her, and Pop-pop Coran might remember her, but it’s doubtful anyone else would remember her.” Ana seemed to be avoiding saying the name until Allura gave a gasp looking to Coran.

“Lady Trissis? Why would she do such a thing?” Coran spoke up. Ana looked across the room to Graven.

“From what little we know, Trissis was one of the Alchemists working on Voltron. Granted, Alfor was the one who gave life to our lions. From history logs that we uncovered on New Altea in our time, Trissis was envious of Alfor’s ability and left the project to research quintessence, much like Honerva did. But, she was killed around the time we were toddlers, after a peace negotiation went south. The whole thing was recorded and broadcasted in real time, as far as we can tell it was a Terrorist Execution. There was no time to actually edit the footage. Unless it was staged and prerecorded.” Graven stated as he stretched, “We have had no real reason to believe that she was one hundred percent dead, though.” Alister gave a hum slightly before he tapped his own interface. 

“Given that theory, it isn’t possible that she’s working for Lotor.” Alister interjected, “She would have her own reasonings for wanting to off the Paladins. Let’s face it, we’re not really that popular among the Galra as well as there are Alteans who still Hero Worship Lotor. On top of that, the Coalition was blamed for Trissis’ death and it’s been the subject of many conspiracy theories about the coalition.” Alister pointed out.

“Yeah, that’s kind of true. I mean most of the Galra that are in the Coalition are either ex-Blades or were refugees from Sendak’s work Camps. Even Black’s mom is still an evil bitch…” Shrugged Revin. Yorak sighed loudly.

“Focus, Blue.” Yorak snapped. Ana rolled her eyes.

“The point is, Trissis was supposed to be dead, like legit dead. As in head removed from her body, dead. You know what a guillotine is, right. Like, off with her head kinds of shit.” Ana gave a deep frown with a wide eyed expression of confusion. 

“Yes, Green, we’ve ALL seen the footage. That’s what’s baffling.” Graven spoke up.

“Red, do you think Space Voodoo can be used for Necromancy?!” Ana asked seeming to perk up as she shot the new Red Paladin a wide eyed look of curiosity.

“Green, that’s stupid, even by your standards. You say some weird shit, but that’s a bit weirder than normal…” Revin pipped up.

“No! Hear me out!” Ana suddenly seemed a bit more animated. “You know how Uncle Shiro said that he had pretty much died that one time and apparently Allura was able to pull his consciousness out of Black and into a dead body?! WHAT IF TRISSIS DID THE SAME THING!?!” Ana’s face broke into an excited look of shock as she made random arm movements to accompany her words, “Think about it!” Ana yelped giving a motion to the newer Paladins. 

“You scare me sometimes…” Graven grumbled crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

“Actually, Green’s right. If you can transfer your consciousness from one place to another, it would be possible to stage an execution in real time. Green, what kind of shit did you smoke today?” Asked Revin incredulously. 

“First off, Altean Coffee is way more fucking amazing than any drug you can find in the known universe, and I had three cups on board the ATLAS before we went to Daibazaal. Second, I’m not tìo Matt, weed isn’t my bag of tricks. Third, I get it from mamà.” Ana grinned, obviously visibly preening at the veiled compliment before blowing a kiss to her brother.

“You’re nauseating, both of you.” Alister groaned.

“We love you too, Yellow. But, you get my point, don’t you?” Ana asked as she gestured to the screen. Yorak gave a loud hum.

“Your theory may just be fact, Green. Impeccable as usual. You’re right, but that means she was in league with the terrorists as well as she, personally, was able to train someone worthy of entering Oriande and convinced them to fake an execution. That would also mean Oriande both exists and was never destroyed along with there is still a viable compass stone in our time.” Yorak stood, going to the main display and looked up at it. Ana bounced over from the Green Paladin station.

“I think I know who it could have been. There were only two Alteans in the room when Trissis was Executed. Which means in our time, there’s a traitor in the Coalition. Check this out.” Ana pulled something from her right gauntlet, bounced back over to the Green Paladin station. Plugged something into a port, earning a “Hey!” of disapproval from Pidge, before her hands flew over the interface without looking. Ana pulled up a screen bouncing as she hummed loudly to herself, an image with what appeared to be a room full of people, the woman from the Black Lion’s footage was front and center. When Trissis looked up, Ana paused the footage. “So, we all know that there was a surge of half breeds towards the end of the war, most of us allied with the Coalition. Specifically those of Altean blood. If you look in the back. Carrying a Galran blaster, disguised as a Galran member of the Terrorists. There’s no mistaking that dumbass smirk.” Ana crossed her arms and made her way back to the Black Paladins.

“Glaxx?” Yorak sounded surprised as he glared up at the still frame.

“Half Altean, has always had a hard time following orders? Yep. He was one of the few half Alteans in the Garrison that can shapeshift. I noticed it the first time that I saw the footage, but I never really thought it was actually relevant.” Ana said as she shot Yorak a smug grin.

“Agh, what are you guys talking about?” Asked Hunk in frustration.

“Oh, ummm…” Ana seemed suddenly uncomfortable. Alister chuckled.

“Usually the Red Paladin is Second in Command, but for us, Ana is our second in command due to how she’s able to figure out the hardest of conundrums. Her theories usually sound super off the wall, but ninety nine percent of the time she’s so damn spot on it’s scary. Ana has just legitimately figured out who was behind the explosion, as well as how they’re still alive after supposedly being executed on live TV.” Ana gave a sheepish grin to the older Paladins, a soft blush coloring her face. “But how did we GET here, is the real question and HOW do we get back?” Alister clarified. Ana gave a hum of thought, mumbling in a combination of Altean and Spanish under her breath.

“You were talking about quintessence before Yorak took you to the med bay.” Allura offered before Ana began to pace along the length of the bridge.

“Well, unlike what Lotor believed in the beginning: Quintessence isn’t just an energy source. It’s honestly alive. It’s like a radioactive squirrel, really. We didn’t really find out about it until Revin started showing signs of manipulating quintessence, a super rare and pretty much extinct talent among the Alteans of our generation. He mentioned it had a literal pulse. Anyway, I could go on all day about Revin’s quirk. Quintessence is super hard to control completely in our time. While it can be harvested and used in practically any application you can think of, there can be all kinds of weird side effects. Triggering an explosion with Quintessence is quite easy, especially if you have a higher caliber version of Revin’s talent, or like I said earlier, are a master of Altean Alchemy that has passed through Oriande. There’s literally nobody in our time that is willing to show the younger generation how to use a Compass Stone so, Oriande might just be a silly myth for us. ANYWAY!” Ana sounded as if she were attempting to keep herself on track.

“I think I understand, If you trigger an explosion with quintessence then there is no way to predict what will happen with that sudden trigger of energy.” Allura stated with a frown. Ana nodded.

“Exactly, I compare it to a squirrel because of how chaotic it is. The only thing I can think of is to find another rift, trigger an explosion and see what happens. It’s not a perfect plan, and it could send us further into the past than we already are. There’s risks that need assessed before we could attempt to recreate the explosion that sent us back here. And it would be dangerous as the only one of you that has gone to Oriande is Allura. But then again, What? Do I have something on my face?” Ana asked in almost disgust as she noted everyone was looking at her.

“Great, we have not one but Two Pidges.” Chuckled Lance. A flick of Ana’s wrist summoned the green bayard, instantly it transformed into a green blaster almost identical to Lance’s, the blaster pointed directly at Lance. 

“Woah! Woah! Woah! Ana! Calm down, he was joking!” Revin moved in front of Lance, a nervous grin on his face.

“You better learn real quick, all of you. I am NOT my mother, and any of you fucking call me Pidge one more fucking time I swear I’ll actually shoot one of you. I haven’t decided if the shot would be lethal or not yet.” another flick of Ana’s wrist dismissed the bayard before she stomped from the bridge with a look of annoyance on her face. Yorak sighed.

“Jesus that girl has one hell of a temper. She used to think being called Pidge was cute, now she takes it as a personal insult. The Garrison has treated all of us as your replacements. Obviously Ana took Uncle Lance and Aunt Katie’s deaths more to heart than any of the rest of us did. I mean she’s had the balls to punch Uncle Shiro in the face, almost breaking his nose, over calling her Pidge.” Graven said with a rather hollow chuckle. Shiro even winced. 

“Obviously she’s your boys’ brains, I’m going to go find her.” Pidge sighed as she got up and stretched. Yorak sighed.

“I should go with you, she is, after all, my second in command and I need her to focus.” Yorak said slowly. Pidge shook her head.

“She’s got the temper of a Holt, there’s only one way to defuse that bomb, and that’s with another Holt. She kind of reminds me of Mom only a bit meaner.” Pidge grinned before she left the bridge making Revin sigh.

“I swear, I got all the McClain and she got all the Holt. I also think the Red lion picked the wrong Paladin. I mean Ana is impulsive, hotheaded, and she’s a complete bi-“ Revin began.

“Shut the fuck up already, Blue.” Snapped Alister in exasperation, “Honestly, Ana has enough going on without you constantly being a jerk. It’s no wonder that Ana’s pissed off and stressed out. Basically we make her do all the work as Second in command, the Garrison is hellbent on trying to get Ana to step down and find a new Paladin for Green. Iverson has told her point blank that he thinks she’s useless and that Graven should’ve been chosen as Yorak’s second. She has every right to be a bitch, so: Shut your quiznak and sit down.” Alister pointed to the floor between the Blue Paladin station and the Yellow Paladin station. Surprisingly, Revin sat dramatically crosslegged in the indicated spot, crossing his arms while mumbling in Altean under his breath, sounding almost like a younger version of Lance. “Revin, I have a wrench in my pocket, and I’m not afraid to throw it across the bridge at you.” 

“Nobody is throwing anything at anyone. Look, we understand. This is a strange situation for all of you. I think we’re all tired and could use some rest.” Allura spoke up looking over her left shoulder at Alister and Hunk. The Balmerian sighed heavily.

“Fine. But just so you all know, Ana will shoot you if you make her mad enough. And she’s probably a better shot than Uncle Lance.” Alister sighed swiping aside the yellow paladin displays. 

“She wouldn’t kill any of us, would she?” Asked Keith skeptically. Yorak snorted.

“As I told Dad earlier, she’s got the brains of a Holt and the precision of a McClain, there are ways of shooting someone without killing them. Uncle Lance taught her all she knows, both of the twins are as deadly as they are attractive.” Yorak grinned proudly as Revin dramatically flipped to his feet, stretching much like Pidge. 

“Yorak, you don’t think Trissis was trying to just kill the Twins, do you?” Asked Graven who had been brooding silently behind Keith the entire time. “Think about it, we’ve all admitted out of all of us, those two are probably the deadliest of our team, we’ve even let it slip in several interviews for Coalition Conferences. Sure, all of us are fairly proficient fighters. But we’re not the ones who have more than one form to our bayards.” Graven looked over to Revin who raised a brow. 

“What do our bayards have to do with anything? You guys could adapt yours too if you actually concentrate.” Revin said nonchalantly.

“You’re right, Ven. Revin can turn his into a sword or a blaster, just like Uncle Lance could. Ana can turn hers into a whip, a blaster, and even a dagger. Come to think of it, you guys were able to keep up with the rest of us even when you were only toddlers…” Mused Yorak. “I take after both my dads, my bayard is a sword. Graven takes after Uncle Matt, his bayard is a staff. And Al…” Yorak shot the Balmerian a grin as he gave a chuckle.

“I take after dad as well, I’ve got a cannon.” Alister chuckled. “But I see your point, Graven, logically they would be the ones you would need to take out firs- Oh god… Guys, he’s right. Uncle Lance and Aunt Katie were the first ones who were assassinated, according to Ana it was on purpose. Thinking about it, taking out the twins would be strategic. Looking at the footage though Trissis wasn’t going for the rest of us, she was going for the twins, specifically Ana.” Alister went to the Green paladin station before he pulled up footage that was obviously from Green. “Sorry, Aunt Katie, I’m borrowing this for a minute.” Alister sheepishly said, more to the interface than anyone in the room, before pointing to the footage, “Watch the footage from Green.” The Paladins all stood before crowding around Yorak, Allura making her way next to the Galran man. Frame by frame Alister played the moments before the actual explosion, the explosion seemed to be carefully guided toward the Green Lion.

“Why take out the Green Lion?” Lance blurt out. 

“Ana’s Second in command, weren’t you listening at all, Lance. Not only that, but didn’t you say she’s probably the best fighter of the five of you?” Shiro asked looking to Yorak. He nodded.

“Yes, Ana never took no for an answer while we were just paladins in training. Despite frequent repercussions with her health, Ana trained with Blades, Rebels, and even the rest of you behind Aunt Katie’s back. As the smallest and the youngest among us, as well as her health concerns, she’s got a lot to compensate for. Brains can’t exactly protect you from being shot or what not. Uncle Matt and Graven were probably her most frequent sparring partners.” Yorak looked over his shoulder to Graven who shrugged.

“But one thing doesn’t make sense about all of this. Why lure all of Voltron to Daibazaal? It would have been easier to take Ana out just by luring her in solo. Curiosity has always been a downfall of Ana’s. Think about it, we’re strongest as a team, right? Picking off the Lions one by one by exploiting our weaknesses would be the typical stratagem if you’re trying to take us down. Take out the best fighter first, then take your pick, wait… That’s it… She was probably hoping to disable the Lions, then take us down one by one… That means, we were wrong to suspect Lotor at all.” Alister straightened his posture scowling at the footage which was once again paused.

“We know it was Trissis, and we know that Glaxx has been feeding her information, and now we know she was after Ana first the whole time. She probably wanted to make a statement, you know the whole: “You’re next, Paladins!” bull crap.” Revin imitated a scratchy voice with his hands curled into mock claws as he spoke. Graven gave a snort.

“Are you sure it’s not like: “My precious Lions, soooonnn Voltron will be mine!” you know like those stories that Uncle Shiro used to tell us about Zarkon?” Graven grinned as he imitated a low scratchy but also quite squeaky voice. Allura and the older Paladins couldn’t help but snicker loudly. 

“That’s cute, but Zarkon sounds nothing like that. It’s more like: “You dirty Paladins, defiling my lions, I’ll have my revenge soon…” Yeah, that’s more Zarkon.” Shiro grinned as he imitated the low growl of Zarkon with ridiculous phrasing. The Paladins all burst into laughter. “In all seriousness, we should all get some rest before we try to come up with a plan of action. I’ll show the kids to the Paladin wing and give them rooms. Meanwhile, Lance, I suggest you leave Ana alone for a bit.” Shiro shot the red Paladin a look.

“Nobody told me that comparing her to Pidge would make her mad, I’ll apologize in the morning.” Lance said defensively. 

“Space Goo first, then sleep, dining room, all of you.” Ordered Hunk. 

Meanwhile, Pidge found Ana in the training room, several small daggers in her right hand a training sentry on the far side of the room had been tied up securely. With a flick of her left wrist, Ana sent a dagger sailing across the room, embedding in the forehead of the sentry.

“Nice shot.” Pidge said quietly. She barely had time to dodge as Ana sent a dagger sailing in her direction.

“Fucking Christ, Mamà, you know better than to sneak up on me!” Ana snarled. Pidge gave a snort.

“Actually, I don’t. Look, I know what Lance said made you mad, but he’s an idiot who doesn’t know what he’s saying is stupid half the time he says it.” Pidge said gently. Ana gave a growl as she turned and loosed two daggers in rapid succession toward the sentry. Both of them missed the sentry’s head by fractions of an inch. Pidge winced as she stepped closer to Ana.

“I hate it when people call me by your nickname. It’s disrespectful. I may have been closer to Papà, but I’m not your god damn replacement.” Ana snarled as she let another knife hit the sentry where the right eye should have been. “I will continue to refuse to let anyone treat me like a replacement. The Garrison can get fucked, Team Voltron can get fucked, EVERYONE CAN GET FUCKED!” Ana screamed each word was accentuated by the Thud of a dagger finding its mark on the sentry. “I refuse to be mocked and insulted by being compared to my dead mother!” Ana yelled as she threw the last dagger with a scream of incoherent rage.

“Ana, nobody wants you to replace anyone.” Pidge said slowly as she came closer to Ana.

“Tell that to everyone else. Fuck, I feel like I’m fucking hallucinating.” Ana grumbled as she flopped dramatically to the floor. 

“You know you can tell us what’s bothering you…” Pidge stated as she sat beside Ana who was now sprawled out on the floor. 

“I watched you both die, you know that? As in I was physically present. You always told me that I was so much older than my age when I was little. You were always so proud of anything Revin and I did. Even though I was so close to Papà, it doesn’t mean I didn’t love you any less or that I wasn’t just as devastated when you died. It pisses me off that anyone would think that I could hold a candle to anything that you did. Hell, you taught me to hack a mainframe in under five ticks, for fun.” Ana sat up looking at Pidge. 

“I kind of figured. My dad, your grandfather, made sure Matt and I understood the importance of family while we were growing up. There were times I hated being called Pidge, and you know who gave me that nickname?” Pidge gave a grin. Ana shook her head. “Matt. When I was about three, I found out my middle name was Paige. Well, I couldn’t pronounce it properly, and kept calling myself Katie Pidge Holt. Matt thought it was so adorable that he refused to call me anything but Pidge. Here we are years later and that stupid nickname has stuck to me like Glue. Sometimes, the other Paladins forget that my real name is Katie.” Pidge paused as Ana gave her a curious look. “It doesn’t really surprise me that you’re still hurt that you managed to wind up in the past with us. Lance is probably just as family oriented as I am, and I’m sure we made sure to show you and Revin that your family loves you.” Pidge concluded.

“You and Papà were amazing Parents. Even though you were both Paladins, at the end of the day, you always made sure that Rev and I were well loved. Papà loved it when we all spent time as a family. He used to call me his Mini-Pidge, and not to tell you that he called me that, but I’m sure you knew. Of course you used to call Revin your Little Loverboy and not to tell Papà that you called him that.” Ana gave the floor a saddened look, absently reaching up to play with the dog tags she wore, making them softly jingle. “You were probably more of my idol than Papà was, to be honest. I mean you were my predecessor for the Green Lion, you taught me everything I know about being a paladin. Seeing you alive and my age, it just hurts knowing what awaits you in the future. Even seeing Papà hurts.” Ana paused to give Pidge a soft look of pain.

“To be honest, I get it more than you think I do. Trust me, Ana, from what I can see, you probably have surpassed me in both paladinship and talent. I’m sure that being proud of you doesn’t even cover the half of it. I understand that it hurts be compared to me, and you feel like it’s an insult, but you know, I think it’s pretty neat. I’m sure we annoy the crap out of one another because we’re so similar, and yeah, you’ve said you were closer to Lance than to me, but you’re so much like me it’s hard to not to want to call you Pidge as well. If it makes you feel any better: Pidge Gunderson is the Paladin, Katie Holt is just me outside of the Paladins.” Pidge gave an encouraging smile to Ana. Ana sighed.

“Fine, but only because you say so.” Ana grumbled. Pidge got to her feet and reached down to help Ana to her feet. “I should really change clothes. I’ll fix my jumpsuit later…” Ana sighed as she got to her feet with Pidge’s help. “We always carry spare clothes in our Lions, it was something that Yorak thought up.” Ana explained noting Pidge was looking at her in confusion. 

Half a varga later Pidge and Ana arrived at the dining room where everyone was gathered. Most of the younger Paladins were dressed similarly to their parents. Yorak favored a weird look that was a mix of Shiro and Keith featuring a black high collared tank top, a red jacket, fingerless gloves and jeans. Alister wore a plain yellow shirt and tan cargo shorts with reinforced knee pads. Graven wore a simple grey graphic tee shirt that looked suspiciously like one Matt had worn before his garrison days, along with black cargo shorts. Revin wore a blue tee shirt that featured Altean text in white, he also wore jeans as well. Ana was wearing a shirt that resembled Pidge’s only it had a low cut neckline and short sleeves, she wore grey cargo shorts that were practically identical to the ones Pidge was wearing. All five of the newer Paladins were wearing baseball caps in their respective lion colors. 

“Hey guys!” Shouted Graven, seeming to be in a better mood than he had earlier. 

“So, anyway, like I was saying. Tía Lisa was so mad at Silvio that she made him clean the whole house by himself before completely ripping him a new one in Spanish.” Revin grinned. Ana sat down next to her brother while Pidge sat next to Keith.

“Which incident?” Ana asked as Hunk slid the plate of Space Goo down to Ana so she could pile some on the plate at her setting. Ana helped herself.

“La vez que Silvio robó el lápiz labial de mamá, dibujó en la pared y luego trató de echarme la culpa.” Revin shrugged with a grin. Ana snickered. The older Paladins immediately looked to Lance.

“Él se preparó para eso. La abuela sabía que Silvio lo hizo. Me sorprende que la tía Lisa no lo abofeteara sin sentido.” Ana returned with a giggle. Lance snorted through a bite of Space Goo.

“Was it Mamá who caught him?” Lance asked, completely ignoring the looks of confusion on his fellow Paladins faces. 

“Si ella lo hizo. How do you think Tía Lisa found out?” Revin chuckled, it was apparent to the others that of the twins Revin actually had a slight Spanish accent. Ana giggled more.

“It’s a war, really. Silvio and Revin are always at it, typical McClain boys if you ask me.” Ana gave her brother a wink.

“Oh yeah? Remember the time Aunt Shay convinced us to pretend that Alister was invisible?” Graven grinned at the Balmerian who groaned loudly.

“That was horrible, I was only eight!” Alister said defensively. Graven snorted into his plate of Space Goo. “Aunt Elle convinced you that Allura was the monster that lived under your bed until you were seven.” Countered Alister. Yorak began laughing with his hands over his face.

“Remember when Uncle Matt caught Graven with that Galran Gal and called him a furry!” Yorak snickered.

“Oh, haha. So she had ears like yours. Big deal, she was hot.” Graven rolled his eyes. “Granted, all we were doing was making out, and to boot I was legally an adult by Altean standards. It’s not like I was caught doing the naughty like Yorak.” Graven shot a look at Yorak who flushed a slight magenta.

“To be fair, Iverson didn’t knock. Really it’s none of your business who I was or wasn’t sleeping with.” Yorak said defensively, surprisingly Ana smirked knowingly. 

“I think we can all agree, Yorak is hot as hell when he’s screaming Galran at Iverson when he’s mad.” Alister chuckled making Yorak groan. 

“Remember when Iverson found out we were dating?” Ana shot the question to Yorak.

“To be honest, it’s none of his business who any of us bang or date. Jesus, you’d think he’s our space mom or something.” Yorak gave a shrug. “He still won’t let it go that he walked in on you and Revin talking about your sex life, Ana.” Ana spewed Space Goo at Lance by accident as she choked.

“Christ, he still rubs it in my face that we were talking about vibrators, you know that. I mean we have the modesty of the Holts and the Shame of the McClains, legit we have none! Besides, it’s not the WORST thing we’ve ever talked about!” Revin pipped up with his hands up wiggling his fingers. 

“Not in front of our parents, guys.” Ana groaned. 

“Ohhhh, the great Anabelle McClain has finally been dunked in a modesty pool?” Graven teased, reaching across the table and prodding Ana in the face.

“Que te jodan, idiota.” Ana snapped, swatting Graven’s hand away. 

“Honestly, you’re probably the least innocent of all of us, and you’re the youngest.” Alister chuckled. Ana rolled her eyes.

“I’m cute, I’m pocket sized, and I’m about as modest as papá. Boys can’t resist me.” Ana shot a grin down the table to Yorak and Alister. “Besides, is that a bayard in your pocket or do we need to form Voltron?” Ana shot finger guns at the boys, causing both Pidge and Keith to choke on Space Goo.

“Not this again.” Grumbled Alister, “Get a room, you two.” Yorak simply put an elbow on the table, rested his cheek in his hand and pointed his spoon at Ana.

“Are you a Balmerian? Because Damn those are some nice caves you got there.” Yorak winked at Ana as Lance and Shiro began to choke on their Space Goo. 

“Oh, is that how you wanna play? Well, are you a member of the Blades of Marmora? Because that’s a nice dagger you got there.” The older Paladins spewed Space Goo all over. Revin snickered as the older Paladins looked horrified. 

“Mnnn, maybe… So, are you made of xanthorium? Because you blow me away.” Yorak grinned before Ana blew him a kiss. 

“Tigerbuns, you’ve already activated my particle barrier.” Ana giggled.

“Well, damn, you must be a Zaiforge Cannon, because you could blow me up any day.” Yorak winked at Ana causing the older Paladins, including Lance, to choke on their Space Goo, again.

“Okay, Okay, can you two stop flirting. Honestly, you’re worse than Uncle Lance and Uncle Matt combine.” Alister dramatically slapped his forehead before dragging his hand down his face.

“Killjoy, I was hoping she could make him die of embarrassment this time...” Revin grumbled. “By the way, Ana… Did you ever… umm… Quiznak… _Did you find the package that you ordered before we left? _” Revin asked in Altean making Ana snicker.

“You forgot to English and Spanish…” Ana giggled, “And no, Iverson confiscated it. He also told Abuela what was in it. You would have thought he had asked her tener sexo con él en el hangar de ATLAS.” Ana giggled making Lance gasp in horror. 

“You two are multilingual?” Asked Pidge effectively changing the subject as she rose a brow at the twins.

“Sí somos. We all are, actually. Iverson thought it was a political advantage to have us all learn at least English, Balmerian, Altean, and Galran. Sometimes we forget something in one language so we lapse into another one. I’m notorious for lapsing into Altean, Ana slips into Spanish, Yorak has a bad habit of lapsing into Galran which he learned from Nana Krolia.” Revin explained. 

“The rest of us gave up on learning Spanish because of the twins.” Graven chimed in, “We all picked up Altean, Galran, and Balmerian pretty easy though.” He chuckled as Alister yawned obnoxiously. 

“Guys, as fun as it is to bicker and flirt, we all have been up for two days. I’m tired as hell.” Alister mumbled.

“Uncle Shiro said he would show us to rooms, right?” Asked Graven as Shiro got to his feet. “It’ll be nice to sleep in a bed again. I swear, I’m not looking forward to the trip home. A month on board the ATLAS will give you nothing but a backache.”

“You’re just spoiled, Ven.” Yorak teased as he scooped up some Space Goo and flicked his spoon so that the Space Goo hit Graven in the face. “Vrepit sa, bitch.” Yorak snickered.

“You flaming piece of Galra crap!” Graven snapped as he took his plate and threw it at Yorak. His aim was off and the plate splattered Hunk in the face with Space Goo. The twins exchanged glances, grabbing their plates and ducked quickly under the table. “Sorry, Uncle Hunk.” Graven said sheepishly as Hunk slowly wiped the green goo from his face. Without warning, Hunk grabbed a spoon and flung a spoonful of Goo at Graven. Graven managed to duck, causing the Goo to smack Lance in the face.

“Sorry, Lance…” Hunk said slowly.

“GOO FIGHT!!!” Lance yelled before chaos broke out at the table. Laughter and Goo filled the air within a few seconds. Even Allura and Shiro had gotten in on the shenanigans. The Twins remained hidden until Pidge called their names. When they peeked over the side of the table, Lance managed to splatter Ana in the face, while Pidge knocked Revin’s blue and black baseball cap off his head with a carefully aimed glob of Space Goo.

“Agh! Gross! That was a dirty trick, Mamà!” Shouted Ana before she spooned a heaping portion of Space Goo before flinging it at Pidge, Pidge dodged and the glob smacked Allura in the chest. “Quiznak, sorry Allura…” Allura on the other hand started laughing, pointing at the newer generation who had congregated on one side of the table, opposite the older generation. 

“Quiznak, look at you. I don’t think we have had fun like this in ages!” Allura grinned looking from the older Paladins to the newer.

“I think I have to agree, Princess. We’ve been busy building the Coalition, and we haven’t had much time to relax and just have some fun as just paladins.” Shiro commented. From behind Shiro came Hunk’s hand with a plate of goo, which was unceremoniously shoved into Shiro’s face. The younger Paladins began to laugh full heartedly as Shiro wiped the plate from his face while Hunk grinned over his shoulder.

“It’s been a while since we’ve been able to have some fun, too. The Garrison has us training on days we don’t have missions, and since we’re Paladins, we are hardly ever granted joint leave to spend time together as a team.” Yorak admitted with a sheepish grin, using the back of his chair to pull himself up from a kneeling position. Of all the Paladins, Yorak, Lance, and Hunk were covered in the most goo. Allura smiled at the two groups of Paladins before Ana started laughing harder than before. 

“Remember when papa started a food fight in the middle of the Garrison during the party for Tía Elle’s Earth citizenship anniversary?” Ana snickered. 

“Oh yeah! Uncle Shiro splattered Iverson from across the room, it was a beautiful shot!” Graven snickered.

“Mamá gave Papá a mashmallow gun full of Space Goo! That was pure poetry. I think he got everybody in the face at least twice!” Revin grinned widely, retrieving his Goo splattered hat. “I do believe tìo Keith was quite drunk. I believe it took all four MFE pilots and tìo Shiro to get him off the table when he popped open a bottle of Champagne after shaking it and screamed… Uhh… What was it again?” Revin grinned to Yorak who groaned, wiping goo from his shirt.

“The phrase was: “Vrepit sa, mother quiznakers.” And believe me, Dad was pissed. He literally put dad over his shoulder and dragged him off while he was incoherently grumbling in Galran.” Yorak smirked at Keith with a fond smile. 

“I guess since we became Paladins, we kind of forgot how to have fun.” Ana admitted with a smile.

“Why don’t we all get cleaned up, and get some rest?” Allura asked.

“First things first, boys.” Yorak said before he motioned the newer Paladins over to him. “Not you, Ana.” Yorak grinned as he motioned for Ana to turn around. Ana grumbled in Spanish under her breath as she took a few steps away. Obviously, Yorak was talking rapidly to the boys in Galran before they pulled out of their huddle, the four of them had grins on their face. “Ana, you still have those glow sticks in Green’s storage compartments, right?” Yorak asked mischievously. Ana narrowed her eyes at him.

“Yes, but you dare go anywhere near my stash and I’ll shoot you for real.” Ana grumbled. 

“No, you misunderstand. Pillow fort! Big pillow fort!” Alister blurt out. Yorak groaned. 

“Oh, boys night? Okay, in that case they’re in the cockpit, storage behind the Bayard port. Just don’t use them all, please, they’re technically for missions.” Ana sighed, “After you shower, you’re not getting Space Goo all over Green.” Ana said firmly making the boys cheer. All four of them burst into Altean, Balmerian, and Galran chatter as Shiro called for them to follow him. Ana quietly swiped a bit of goo from her cheeks as Pidge came forward. 

“I’ll show you to the showers.” Pidge giggled as she grabbed Ana by the arm and dragged her off. Lance shot a rather uncomfortable look at Hunk and Allura. 

“I get the feeling that you’re about to say the same thing as me, Lance. This is weird and maybe we should be a little more on guard?” Keith suggested slowly.

“Yeah. I mean it’s neat, don’t get me wrong. But you know, it’s… it’s weird. I mean, we’re teenagers, and for them to call us their parents…” Lance trailed off, obviously trying to choose his words carefully.

“I get it, Lance, you don’t want us to get too close to them, in case what they’re saying is true after all.” Said Allura quietly. Lance nodded.

“It’s a defense, you’re right though. As much as I feel compelled to trust them, which is saying something for me, I don’t want us to be fooled into a false sense of security. I speak a little Galran from my time with the Blades. Yorak seemed to realize right away that we may not trust them completely. He made the point that just because they have the Lions doesn’t mean we legitimately have to trust them.” Keith sighed before Hunk gave a shrug.

“I don’t know, these kids seem to know an awful lot about us. And Alister seems like a good kid. Maybe I’m being biased, but I think this is legit. Ana acts like Pidge, Revin acts like Lance, Yorak acts like a balanced combination of Shiro and Keith, Alister is like looking in a mirror for me, and let’s face it: Graven is almost a perfect copy of Pidge’s brother. They even have pictures of what we look like in the future..” Hunk said. Lance, Keith, and Allura looked at him in curiosity. 

“They… Do? Ana didn’t show me anything. She just showed me a few things in retrospect that could have belonged to anyone.” Lance rose a brow. Hunk looked nervously between his fellow Paladins. 

“Alister, showed me videos and photos he had on his phone. He said he probably shouldn’t have showed me, but he was adamant that I know that he was legitimately trying to prove that he was really not going to do us any kind of harm. The last video he had of us, he didn’t want to show me at first, he said it was taken a few days before Lance was killed.” Hunk hesitated.

“He showed you anyway, didn’t he?” Keith asked quietly. Hunk nodded. 

“Yeah, it was actually a video message from us to the Newer Paladins. We were going on a mission and we were telling them things like: “behave” and “take care” and of course that we loved them. It looks like we’re all pretty chill parents, really.” Hunk said nervously. 

“So, they have proof then?” Allura asked quietly. 

“From what I can tell, yeah.” Hunk said with a frown. A small sound by the door caught their attention, the four looked over to see Ana had tried to sneak into the room, but the towel that had been around her shoulders had fallen to the floor. She was wearing a green set of pajamas, and her wet hair stated she probably had just gotten out of the showers. Ana looked rather sheepish as she quickly grabbed her towel.

“I… I left my… uh, phone on the table…” Ana said quietly. She crossed the room on the side farthest from Lance, Hunk, Allura, and Keith. Quickly she grabbed the orange device from the table, holding it up to show them that she had grabbed it before she pointed to the door. “Voy a ir ahora…” Ana mumbled in Spanish before she bolted from the room. 

“Do you think she’s afraid of us?” Allura asked looking to Keith.

“Actually, I think she overheard us.” Keith said awkwardly. Lance sighed.

“There’s nothing we can do about it now.” Lance sighed before he sighed “We should hit the showers while we can then try to get some sleep like Allura said.”


End file.
